Wilson 68 Reading 63

The Reading Red Knights went down to defeat tonight 68-63 to Wilson in West Lawn. Here are my thoughts on the game:

1. I don't know if it was not playing in 5 days, being flat, or whatever excuse you want to come up with. It is completely inexcusable to come out flat for a game that has been circled on our calendars for months.
2. After 13 games I didn't expect us to be undefeated but this team needs someone to instill some discipline. I see too many times for long stretches where we go cold and have no flow to our offense.. The coaching staff deserves part of the blame for this but equally to blame is that I see no leadership on the court from any players.
3. I also was disappointed as it seemed we didn't adjust to what they were doing and gave up way too many layups.
4. Down 16 points in the fourth quarter I sorta expected us to fold the tent and it was a very good sign to see us fight back and get it to a 1 possession game with less than a minute to go.
5. We cant expect to win games against quality teams like Wilson when we play hard for a half.

Reading 64 Red Lion 61

The Reading Red Knights continued their winning ways with a 64-61 win over Red Lion tonight at York College. Here are my thoughts on the game:

1. I thought the effort was their tonight on our part but was expecting this kind of game with it being a game that we probably wouldn't play our best with Wilson looming on Tuesday.
2. The one area we were really poor tonight was being strong with the ball. Countless times tonight we turned the ball over cause we weren't strong with the ball at all. If we want to beat Wilson this definitely has to improve.
3. I really like how we are starting to see Trenity Burdine get the ball more inside and he seems to be getting comfortable with it. But tonight Trenity like many others on the squad rushed shots on the offensive end.
4. Delvon Brown played within himself tonight for the most part but I think were going to have to live with him at times dribbling out of control.

Reading 77 Holy Name 40

The Reading Red Knights captured the Reading Holiday tournament championship with a thrashing at the hands of the Blue Jays from Holy Name. Here are my thoughts on the win:

1. This was probably the best effort we have seen from this team since the Chester win. It will be interesting to see how we handle ourselves going into the next game. The one thing that has come really clear is that this team plays it's best when it feels threatened.
2. Kudos to Coach Redding for showing some fire in a timeout when we were down and it really had an impact as our intensity level raised immediately. Also, I thought he had a brilliant strategy of making the game a full court game tonight and seeing that Holy Name would wear down with playing such a short bench plus also playing on back to back nights.
3. Marcus Dawkins was clearly the best player on the court tonight and really had s solid all around game with 21 points 12 boards and 7 assists.
4. Trenity Burdine also had a nice game with 19 points, but more importantly he got some of his offense in the paint and really attacked the basket. When Burdine and Dawkins come to play Reading is a very dangerous team.
5. I was really impressed with Marco Laureano tonight as he played some solid defense and chipped in with some nice play on the offense side of the ball as well.

Reading 65 Central 60

Reading won their opening round game of their Christmas tournament over Central High School tonight. With the win they advance to tomorrow's championship game tomorrows night against Holy Name. Here are my thoughts on the game:

1. Plain and simple this team plays to the level of its competition. While this is good in games against top competition, it will come back to bite us somewhere down the line.
2. Someone has got to corral Delvon Brown out their and limit the dribbling. I like the kid and think he is going to be a player but he had way too many turnovers and a lot of the turnovers game from him over dribbling.
3. I'm glad to see us weed out some of the guys who were on their own agenda and I'm glad we did it before the new year and should pay dividends down the line as some of these younger players develop.
4. I think the one thing om offense that tonight really pointed out to me was this team as no low post option and every thing on offense comes from the perimeter. But I liked what I saw from the Weiglinski kid and I think the more he plays he could develop into a nice low post player in time.
5. Just wanted to point out that if we win tomorrow night we will still lose points in the district rankings for playing a AA school.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/28

HARRISBURG
8.857
YORK
8.818
ELIZABETHTOWN
8.571
PENN MANOR
8.286
MANHEIM TOWNSHIP
8.286
HEMPFIELD
8.000
READING
7.777
SOLANCO
7.777
RED LION
7.714
CD EAST
7.571
CEDAR CLIFF
7.555
CENTRAL YORK
7.200
DANIEL BOONE
7.111
GETTYSBURG
7.111
WILSON
7.000
RED LAND
7.000
COCALICO
6.625
CENTRAL DAUPHIN
6.571
LOWER DAUPHIN
6.429
CONESTOGA VALLEY
6.333
MECHANICSBURG
6.200
WARWICK
6.143
EXETER
6.000
WAYNESBORO
6.000
GOVERNOR MIFFLIN
6.000
CHAMBERSBURG
6.000
CEDAR CREST
5.750
MCCASKEY
5.667
DALLASTOWN
5.625
TWIN VALLEY
5.571
SPRING GROVE
5.444
DOVER
5.400
CUMBERLAND VALLEY
5.200
LEBANON
5.143
EPHRATA
4.750
SOUTHWESTERN
4.250
GARDEN SPOT
4.250
CARLISLE
4.125
YORK VO-TECH
4.000
MANHEIM CENTRAL
3.889
LAMPETER-STRASBURG
3.375

Reading 61 Governor Mifflin 53

The Reading Red Knights got back on the winning track with a dull and uninspiring win tonight at the Geigle. Here are my thoughts on the game:

1. I support the coach's decision in trying to instill some discipline in this team, but I think it time over the holiday break to lay down the gauntlet and keep the guys who want to play and let the guys go who are only out for themselves.
   
2. Delvon Brown really played a sub par game tonight. I realize that he is going to have games where he has some growing pains this year but he took way too many bad shots and didn't get the team into the offense.
   
3. The one think to take solace out of tonight is that we really played terrible for about 3 and a half quarters and still won.
   
4. To me tonight the one player who really acted like he cared was Yamit Echevarria and he brings that effort every game.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/20

YORK
8.875
HARRISBURG
8.833
ELIZABETHTOWN
8.600
PENN MANOR
8.167
MANHEIM TOWNSHIP
8.167
HEMPFIELD
7.833
READING
7.625
RED LION
7.500
CEDAR CLIFF
7.429
SOLANCO
7.429
CD EAST
7.333
CENTRAL YORK
7.286
WAYNESBORO
7.000
RED LAND
6.875
GETTYSBURG
6.875
WILSON
6.857
DANIEL BOONE
6.857
COCALICO
6.833
WARWICK
6.500
LOWER DAUPHIN
6.429
CONESTOGA VALLEY
6.429
TWIN VALLEY
6.400
MECHANICSBURG
6.375
GOVERNOR MIFFLIN
6.333
CEDAR CREST
6.000
DOVER
5.875
DALLASTOWN
5.857
SPRING GROVE
5.857
CENTRAL DAUPHIN
5.800
CUMBERLAND VALLEY
5.714
MCCASKEY
5.667
CHAMBERSBURG
5.600
EXETER
5.167
EPHRATA
4.857
LEBANON
4.500
CARLISLE
4.429
MANHEIM CENTRAL
4.400
SOUTHWESTERN
4.286
YORK VO-TECH
4.250
GARDEN SPOT
3.500
LAMPETER-STRASBURG
2.600