Reading High Hoops Blog

Wilson 68 Reading 63

2009-01-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

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

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.
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.
I also was disappointed as it seemed we didn't adjust to what they were doing and gave up way too many layups.
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.
We cant expect to win games against quality teams like Wilson when we play hard for a half.

Reading 64 Red Lion 61

2009-01-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

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:

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.
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.
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.
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

2008-12-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

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:

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

2008-12-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

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:

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

2008-12-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

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:

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.
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.
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.
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

2008-12-20T21:42:00.001-08:00

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

Harrisburg 74 Reading 67

2008-12-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights fell to defeat this afternoon in Harrisburg against the Cougars of Harrisburg High by the score of 74-67. Here are my thoughts on the game:

I loved the effort that we played with today and I truly felt like we fought to the end. But in the second half the execution just wasn't there to beat Harrisburg. I sort of expected a let down today and I don't really think there was one but I think we will grow from this loss.
Xavier Mumford had a solid game today with his 11 points and 16 boards and really answered some doubters including myself. I still think he can tend to be inconsistent but at least he has really come to play in the big games this season.
Delvon Brown had a nice game today with his 14 points and really has settled in at the point guard and I think when you have him at your point guard it allows Marcus Dawkins to play off the ball where he is more effective.
I have been a big supporter of Coach Redding and thought he did a decent job of coaching today but I was scratching my head wondering if we would have thrown a zone at Harrisburg while they were making their big run in the 2nd half it would of at least slowed them down.
I echo what others have said about the facility at Harrisburg in that it is a first class facility and is definitely one of the nicer gyms in District III to watch a game. But can we please find a PA announcer who is capable of reading players names. If you don't know how to pronounce them go to the coaching staff and ask the way it is correctly pronounced.
Memo to the officials: We had two championship quality teams out their too bad your level of officiating didn't match the level of play on the court. The technicals called on both teams were overreactions and had no business being called.
I feel like after this game we have a much better sense of what this team is and what it can be. I strongly believe Reading has just as much talent as Harrisburg and that the Red Knights are still a strong contender in District III along with Harrisburg, York, Wilson and even undefeated dark horse Elizabethtown.

Reading 83 McCaskey 81

2008-12-13T21:22:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights improved to 4-1 on the season with a 83081 win at Mccaksey on Saturday night. Here are my thoughts on the game:

I tip my hat to coach Redding for how tonight how he tried to continue to establish discipline on this team with benching 4 guys for a quarter tonight. The only way he is going to get his point across his by taking playing time away. I also like his strategy at the end of the game tonight with holding the ball at the end and diagramming a play to let Delvin Brown create something for himself as he hit the layup at the buzzer to win the game.
Xavier Mumford had a solid game tonight and really played hard down low and was a force inside for us tonight. I have been critical of him for being inconsistent, but hopefully this is the sign of better things to come.
Marcus Dawkins was probably the best player on the floor for us tonight and showed great leadership that we expected out of him. I believe this was the most aggressive I have seen him in his young career.
Ive heard some people complain about the defense and I think it is a concern but I think it will definitely improve as they get more comfortable in the system. But the biggest problem on defense tonight was that are transition defense was horrendous and we really need to work on busting it to get back on defense.
I think what your seeing on offense is that Coach Redding's offensive mindset is to run even more than we did last year and I think its a mindset that our players will get used to very easily. The thing tonight pointed out to me was that when we attack the basket we are a very productive offense, but when we settle for jumpers that aren't in the rhythm of the offense we are a offense that is easy to defend.

Reading 63 Coatesville 58

2008-12-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights opened their home schedule with a sloppy 63-58 win over the visiting Coatesville Indians. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Right now this team just doesn't play smart. That is why I think Coach Redding is trying to make them play fast and do things without thinking.
While Marcus Dawkins had a solid game he needs to avoid the ball handling errors he made because this team looks to him for leadership and you cant have costly turnovers in the 4th quarter.
I really feel like Trenity Burdine needs to get his head into basketball. I have always felt the more aggressive he is the better of a player he is and his mind really seems to wander out their. Burdine and Dawkins have to realize that they are the leaders of this team and it will go as far as they are willing to take it.
Yamil Echevarria had a nice game tonight and I really like the intensity he brings to this team because we really don't have anyone else on the squad who plays with this level of intensity. I really hope he gets more minutes as the season goes on.
Delvon Brown had a much better game tonight and I think as he gets more comfortable he well become a solid player and will make Reading back court much better.

Williamsport 84 Reading 67

2008-12-06T04:30:00.001-08:00

The start to the Reading High basketball season got off to a rocky start with an 84-67 loss to Williamsport in the opener of the Bearcat Basketball Classic. Here are my thoughts on the game:

At times I thought we played hard and hustled out there tonight but at other times I thought we lack intensity and looked like we didn't care.
The one thing I was really disappointed in was I didn't see much leadership on the court from our returning players. I think this team with experience will get better but we need the Trenity Burdines and the Marcus Dawkins to be the leaders on the court, because this is their team.
The biggest negative I saw was that we looked a step slow and we didn't pass the ball with crispness and committed way too many turnovers.
My biggest criticism of the coaching staff was that their was no really set offense being run and it looked like we had five guys on the court doing five different things. I think part of this is that he was hired so late and he needs time to get his system down with the players.

I will not be blogging after tonight's game cause I have a prior commitment but I should be their on Tuesday for the game against Coatesville.

Season Preview

2008-12-04T16:32:00.001-08:00

Folks I'm back for another season of Reading High Basketball. I must say with the amount of changes in the off season as made me even more excited for the new season as I like many of you probably are saying that we really have not much of a clue of how this season will transpire.

When Coach Reyes retired I was taken aback just because as much criticism he had received from a segment of the fan base I didn't envision him not coming back. As the years go on I think for the most part people will look at the Reyes era as an era where we had some great teams (2 district titles) and some teams who had great talent but just underachieved or didn't come through come playoff time. But I would say the Reyes era was definitely one that he left the program in much better shape than when he took over. Also it should be noted that he did instill a level of discipline on the court to many of his teams.

Now when Coach Reyes left I like many of you had hope for a high profile big name coach but has the days went by and hearing the constant talk of Kirk Singleton coming back, I was needless to say underwhelmed and not excited about the proposition. So when I heard of the hiring of Tim Redding I was at least happy that it was a name who had some credentials as he did cut his teeth as an assistant on the college circuit. So I did more research and I went to the archives and pulled out the Albright program from his senior year and on his profile this is what was said of him as a player:

English major with aim toward coaching and sports management. Walk on who has been a member of the JV and Varsity squads at Albright. Outstanding track athlete at Southwestern High School where he was All-County in football and a member of record-setting 32o00 relay team as a junior and senior. Head coach at the time Ken Tyler said of Redding "Tim is an extremely hard worker, and gives us another coach on the floor".

So with that being said I think he has some good traits as being a hard worker and usually players who aren't the most gifted do become excellent coaches. But I think we as a fan base should expect some bumps in the road this year as he grows into being a head coach. But with that being said I still expect this to be a team that wins the county title and competes on the district and state level.

I will have a blog entry after tomorrow's game but will not be able to attend the game on Saturday.

Reading 63 CD East 51

2008-02-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights captured their 19th district title today by beating the Panthers of CD East this afternoon at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Here are my thoughts on today's game:

We really didn't play great on the offensive end today but defensively we came through with a championship performance. Hats off as it was a total team effort. Coming into the game I really thought we would have to limit their three guards and not only did we limit them we really shot them down as Amani Glenn was 1 for 11 from the field, Demond Bates was 4 for 11 from the field and John Breeden was 2 for 11 from the field. So their big three shot 7 for 33 for 21 percent.
To me the MVP of the game was Nelson Leon. He set the tempo in hitting a couple of three's to start the game and played his usual outstanding defense and the other's seem to feed off his great defensive play.
What is really scary about our squad is that we played about our B- game on offense and still beat CD East by 12.
Jermaine Jackson did fall hard on his back and with a week to rest hopefully he can be ready for the first round of the State tournament on Saturday. While not having an outstanding he still had a great game in getting 12 points and 10 boards and while earlier this week talking the talk he also walked the walk.
Hats off to all of our loyal fans who made their presence felt today and made it like a home game for us. Also memo to all the naysayers throughout District III and especially in the Harrisburg area what more do you want this team to do before you give us some damn respect.
Memo to the Giant Center if you want even bigger crowds how about lowering your concession prices. I'm not asking for $1 hot dogs or anything but when get chicken tenders and a small coke and it costs $11 something is wrong with this picture. Its not like the people attending the game our folks with 6 figure salaries.
Also great to see Marcus Dawkins return to action with him seeing big minutes I really expect us to play suffocating defense like we did today.
I wanted to say congrats to CD East for getting this far. Coach Leib is a class act and his program is definitely on the right track.
It was great to see Coach Reyes celebrating with the players and seeing him happy. Also classy move in the post game interview on WEEU giving credit to his assistants as well.
As we look ahead we will play the Indians of Souderton High school who entered the District I tournament as the 20th seed. In their last couple games they have only played six players so its definitely a team we have to make run the full court and just wear down.
For those of you who are reading my blog on pennlive.com if you want to view a video of the pics I sent please visit my blog at www.redknighthoops.blogspot.com

Reading 61 Elizabethtown 38

2008-02-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights clinched a berth in the District III Championship game with a 61-38 win over the Elizabethtown Bears tonight at the Giant Center in Hershey. The following are my thoughts on tonight's win:

Another great defensive effort tonight as we outrebounded Etown 27-20 and held them to 27% from the field and they only made 9 field goals for the game. The biggest improvement in the postseason is our play at the defensive end of the court. We are averaging giving up 44 ppg in the district playoffs.
Jordan Burdine has been the MVP of the district playoffs as he had another stellar game tonight with 20 points and four treys. So far in the districts he has scored a total of 56 points for an average of almost 19 points per game.
Nelson Leon had another great game defensively and chipped in 7 points and 6 boards. Lately he also seems to be more aggressive on offense.
It was really good to see us for the first time in the district playoffs come out and play well from the start and run our offense very smoothly and efficiently.
Trenity Burdine only had 4 points tonight but I thought he was much more active tonight than he was on Saturday and if his shot wasnt falling he still tried to contribute in other ways.
As we look ahead to Saturday's championship game, it should be stated that from the start of the season these two teams have played the best ball over the whole season so both squads definitely deserve to be here.
When I look at CD East I think their are two things that play in our favor. One, they our a small team on the whole and Jermaine could have his way inside as he has at least three or four inchees on any defender he will see. The second thing is while they are a disciplined team they are not a great shooting team, so if they score 44 points again on Saturday they will have a very tough time beating us. I will be looking at some film on them and have a scouting report on CD East up on my blog on either Wednesday or Thursday.

Etown Preview

2008-02-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

The semifinal round of the District playoffs brings in a team many didnt expect to get this far in the Elizabethtown Bears. From scouting them I really believe this is a team who all year long has snuck up on a lot of teams and has really taken advantage of teams looking past them. I will give a rundown of the key players for the Bears:

12 Jordan Hallman 6' SR G: Star running back for football team and probably best athelete on the team. Ran for 1100 yards on the football field with 13 TD's and has averaged 10 ppg in the postseason. Decent outside shooter who can make the 3 if left open. Good defensive player probably will guard Macho as he is the fastest player on squad.

22 Kyle McNeal 6'2 JR F: Another player from league champion football squad. Has averaged 10 ppg in the postseason, but that is deceiving in that he had 19 in their pigtail game but hasnt been in double figures the last two games. McNeal isnt a great offensive player but makes the most out of his talent by being a great hustle player and will eat up the garbage from offensive rebounds.

25 Quinn Cozzens 6'2 JR G: One of the better offensive players on the team as he has averaged 14 ppg in the postseason and averaged 13 ppg in league play this year. Best scoring threat from the perimeter.

23 Chad Styer 6"2 JR F: Has also averaged 14 ppg in the postseason. Had a huge game Saturday with 21 points. Another player who can knock down the open shot and is someone who we cant give open looks to.

50 Nate Koach 6'4 SR F: Plays the center spot as he is the biggest player on the team. Averaging 11 ppg in the playoffs. Played wide receiver on the football team and is not slight of body but by no means strong. I really think this is a player who we can bring Cook into the game to wear down as the game goes on, because you have got to expect Koach to play almost all of the game. Getting him in foul trouble could be huge.

21 Nate McCurdy 5'10 JR G: Has averaged 3 ppg in two playoff games. First guy off the bench for the Bears. Not a great offensive threat but will be aggressive when he gets the ball and take it to the hole.

31 Bradley Garber 6'1 SO F: Son of former Phillies pitcher Gene Garber. Played in first round game and came off the bench for 7 points. Will see action if anyone in the front court gets into foul trouble. Probably most physical player on the team and could see action also if Cook gets more minutes.

Etown has some good ballhandlers but will be put to the test against our pressure defense. If they dont make shots they have no chance to win. I really think that Etown could come into the game as just happy to be their. I think it will take them some time to get used to playing in a big arena which is something they havent done.

Keys to the game

1. Macho must push the ball up the court and really be aggressive. Their is no one on the Etown roster who can match up with him speed wise. I really think he could have a huge game Tuesday night.

2. Run, run, and run some more: After studying some tape Etown will run when they get the chance but also is comfortable playing half court ball. But you have got to expect them to really try to make it a half court affair.

3. Get Jermaine going early: If we can get Jermaine some looks early in the game I really can see him going for 20 points and 10 boards. Etown simply has no answer for him at either end.

Prediction:

Reading 75

Etown 49

Reading 61 York 47

2008-02-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights advanced to the District III semifinals with a victory over the York Bearcats by the score of 61-47 at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Here are my thoughts on the game:

In the first quarter I really thought our intensity was not at the level it should be at. We have got to realize that no one we play is going to give us their best shot and we really need to get back to playing solid basketball for four quarters.
The MVP of today's game for me was Demrick Cook. After we were getting killed on the boards he came into the game controlled the paint, banged some bodies, and was a defensive force today. He only had 2 points but grabbed 17 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. I never knew he had such talent to throw a nice lead pass on the fast break but he did so twice and hit the player in stride.
Jordan Burdine continued his great play against York as he had 25 points and 6 rebounds. I really think why he has played so well against the Bearcats is because they dont have guards who can matchup to him height wise and he could get any shot he wanted to.
We really shot poorly today as we went 36% from the field, but that is the sign of how well we have played defensively and how talented we are that we can only shoot 36% and still win by 14 against a decent team.
I heard numerous fans from Harrisburg say that we were lucky since York missed so many layups but you have to give credit to some of that on the defensive effort by the Red Knights.
With today's win we will advance to play Elizabethtown. I fully expect us to win this game but the Bears record is a little deceiving. They are 16-10 on the season but only three of those losses have come after the New Year. But with that being said their best wins on the whole season are their two wins in the postseason.
I know the officiating was not top notch today but I really hope we refrain from bashing today's crew from the Lancaster-Lebanon League since they were doing their job with a heavy heart as they lost one of their own in veteran L-L official Tim Bartholomew passed away after the Hershey-Boiling Springs game on Thursday night. It had to be tough for these three men especially one of the officials today was on site when Tim collapsed after the game.
I just wanted to talk about Tim for a quick second. I got the chance to work with Mr. Bartholomew a few years ago at the Zinn's Park summer league and he always had time to talk to anyone was a basketball fan and took his job very seriously but did it because he liked kids and enjoyed officiating and not for a paycheck. I did go back and look at the tape from our last district championship and Tim was one of the officials in that game. I guess the best compliment I can give is that when you saw him officiating one of your games you knew you had one less thing to worry about.
I will be back tommorrow with my preview on the ETown game.

Reading 64 Carlisle 49

2008-02-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights were victorious tonight by a score of 64-49 in their first round district game against the Thundering Herd of Carlisle at Wilson High School. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Great to see us come out strong from the get go and I really thought we played our best half of basketball in the postseason tonight in the first half. It was great to see us back in attack mode.
Jermaine Jackson continued his outstanding play in the postseason with 21 points and 15 boards. I did thing when we had our rough third period we really got away from getting him touches.
As a team we didnt shoot the ball well as we only shot 39% from the field but I thought we ran our offense pretty effectively. But on the defensive end I thought we played pretty well. Held Carlisle to only 36% from the field and gave up very few easy baskets. Also a huge stat in tonight's game was how we really limited them to one shot and done with us holding a 45-21 rebounding advantage.
Nelson Leon had a nice game tonight in that he looked for his shot, played good defense, and grabbed 3 boards.
Great game tonight by Demrick Cook who only had two points but was a force on the glass and did a great job defensively.
I think the biggest advantage we got from the extra day of rest is that it let Macho heal his ankle up and after looking careless at the start of the game he really played well.
Looking ahead to Saturday's game, I think it is a team who we have film on and we have played already so we should not have problems getting adjusted to them. Youve got to think that York will make some adjustments, but with their style of play I dont think their is much their going to change. It also should help us that we have already played in a big arena and York has not.

Reading 72 Daniel Boone 54

2008-02-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights captured the Berks County Championship tonight at the Sovereign Center by a score of 72-54 in front of a crowd of almost 5,000. Here are my thoughts on tonight's game:

Jermaine Jackson continued his strong tournament play with a career high 27 points and 12 rebounds. He picked a great night to go for a career high. It was evident early he took the bull by the horns and put the others on his back and was not going to be denied. I think he was easily the tournament MVP. For the three games of the tournament he finished with a total of 64 points and 30 rebounds. Props to Jermaine for after the game really going out of his way to acknowledge the fans.
Jordan Burdine had a tough night from the field in shooting 1 for 12, but he never let his cold shooting get to him. He still drove to the basket and got to the foul line. Also should be noted he did a decent job of running the point when Macho was in foul trouble.
After getting into foul trouble in the first half Macho had a really nice second half with 14 second half points. He did tweak his ankle again tonight, but in the postgame celebration he did seem to be fine. Hopefully, he will get treatment this week and be ready to go on Wednesday.
I thought we played really well on the defensive end of the court tonight as Boone only shot 21 for 61 for 34% from the field. Also it did help that Boone was an anemic 1 for 8 from three point range. Credit should go out to Nelson Leon for doing a great job of defending Jeff Sowers to four points and only one field goal.
Credit also goes out to Coach Reyes and his whole coaching staff for having the team ready to play and not letting them panic when Boone kept trying to make a run to get back in the game.
Daniel Boone should be proud of the way they played tonight. I thought the most impressive thing was that they never changed the way they played and battled. I think they could make some noise in a really tough AAA bracket.
The big test for this team is getting over the hangover from tonight's win and getting back to business and focusing on Carlisle. I think it really helps playing against a team who beat us last year so I dont think we will look past Carlisle.
You have got to love the irony in a year after we were forced to play a game against a 12 seed Carlisle in their back yard, that this year we will face Carlisle and that they will have to travel 75 miles to play the game while we will travel a whopping three miles to play the game.
For those who read my blog on Pennlive if you go to www.redknighthoops.blogspot.com I have incorporated a movie with the pictures I took from the game I hope you all enjoy it.

Daniel Boone Preview

2008-02-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

Friday's Berks County Title game promises to be a game that promises to be a game that will be exciting as it pits the two highest scoring teams in Berks county.

Boone is probably the only team from the county who can throw three double figure scorers on the court against Reading. But after watching them in three games they are a team who has some big flaws. For one, they are a terrible defensive team. They have given up a lot of points to some bad offensive teams as they gave up 58 to a bad Warwick team, 70 to Twin Valley, and 57 to Ephrata. So I expect this game to be easily played in the 70's. The other thing that I see with Boone is that they will go on scoring droughts from time to time and when they do this we have to make them pay when this happens. I think the one thing going for them is that they did get some confidence from that they played well against us in the last game. But you can only take that so far and I think that point is a big rallying point for Reading to come show that we are a much better team than the last game.

Keys to the game:
1. Get out to a lead early and make them play at an even faster tempo than they are used to.
2. Control the boards. This is a team the last time we played that killed us on the glass. Because if you limit them to outside shots they simply have no chance.
3. Get Jermaine Jackson off early. Because if he gets going early it will also open it up even more for Jordan Burdine. Quite simply there is no one on the Boone roster who can guard Jordan.

Prediction:

Reading 94
Daniel Boone 62

My other random thoughts on this week:

After looking around at the other league's postseason tournaments, it is clear that Berks County Championship has the best facility to play the game at by far. Just look at where all the rest of the leagues play their title games. Lancaster-Lebanon league is playing theirs at Manheim Township high school, York played their's at York College, and the Mid Penn is playing their championship game at Cumberland Valley. So I think we all should be thankful that we have such a wonderful facility to play our league title game at.
Memo to the BCIAA why is Jack Carl officiating playoff games? Who does he have pictures of? Im not one to just bash officials but I thought postseason assignments are on merit not on how many years you have officiated. After he blew that call in the Muhlenberg/SV game Carl should have been taken off any more county playoff games.
Why was last night's game started at 6:00, but Monday's first game started at 6:30. I know there are festivities at halftime but lets start the games at 630 and 8. Its not like their are a ton of people who want to get home by 9:30.

Reading 79 Muhlenberg 58

2008-02-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights earned a trip to the county championship game on Friday night with a 79-58 win over the Muhlenberg Muhls tonight at the Sovereign Center. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Offensively tonight I thought we ran our offense much better tonight. We got shots in the rhythm of the offense and were an amazing 7/12 for 58% from three point land. But also did a good job of not just settling for the outside shot.
Jermaine Jackson had a great game tonight with 18 points and 7 boards. It is really good to see him play in an aggressive way and really set the tempo for the rest of his teammates. I think if he has another double double you would have to consider him as tournament MVP.
Jordan Burdine also had a great game with 28 points and five three pointers. It was good to see Jordan not just settle for the outside jumper tonight as he attacked the basket. When he attacks the basket he is just a complete ballplayer.
I was a little miffed at the defensive gameplan which called for a zone most of the night. I just thought attacking Zeller like we did in the first game was more of the way to go. But Im not complaining we got the win.
The one distressing thing for this week is the amount of easy baskets we have given up. We are really going to need to shore that up and do it quickly.
Macho played tonight but I dont think he looked like he was at full strength. We really need him to get back healthy and attack the basket more. He still played a great game but I thought tonight we did miss his offense as he only had four points.
I was glad to see Daniel Boone win tonight for two reasons. First, I think the tempo they play at will really come in handy for us as we will be in a comfort playing the uptempo system the Blazers like to play. Second, I think the players on this squad really want to show that the last game was a fluke against Daniel Boone and really lay a pounding on them and their is no better place for it to happen than in the championship game.

Reading 69 Wyomissing 47

2008-02-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights won their opening game of the postseason with a hard fought 69-47 against the Wyomissing Spartans tonight at Wilson High School. Here are my thoughts on the game:

The six day layoff really showed tonight. At times we seemed to be a step slow and at other times seemed a tad off our game. The game was much closer than the score would say. But we are going to need to improve if we want to win some hardware this year.
I thought on offense we ran our offense pretty well and we were unselfish and moved the ball around and got good looks at the basket.
Huge game tonight by Jermaine Jackson with 19 points and 11 boards. When Jermaine gets a double double we are almost unbeatable. We got him touches early and like I have hammered home this year get the big man involved early and he will come through.
Jordan Burdine has 15 points on a relatively poor shooting night as he went 4 for 14 from the field, but was effective getting to the line 10 times. When he attacks the basket and doesnt just shoot the outside jumper he is unstoppable.
It was good to see that when we were flat tonight that our senior leaders stepped to the forfront and got the team out of the doldrums. If you want to be a great team come playoff time you are going to need your seniors to play like seniors and they definitely did tonight.
Macho turned an ankle in the second quarter and left the game but returned after halftime and seemed to be at about 85-90%. Hopefully he will be able to go at close to full go on Wednesday.
I have to give props to Wyomissing tonight they gave us their best and played very well and definitely earned my respect as they had a solid game plan, were well coached, and didnt come into the game in awe of us like some other county teams have. Good luck Wyomissing in districts.
With Muhlenberg on Wednesday this is a matchup that definitely will favor us as they like to play fast. I expect a much better performace on Wednesday night.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/31

2008-01-31T20:58:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
23-0
8.739
2
CD East
20-2
8.318
3
McCaskey
18-4
8.091
4
Cedar Crest
18-4
7.773
5
Red Lion
19-4
7.739
6
Hempfield
17-5
7.682
7
Red Land
18-4
7.545
8
York
17-6
7.261
9
Conestoga Valley
14-8
7.091
10
Dallastown
15-7
7.045
11
Elizabethtown
14-9
6.870
12
Mechanicsburg
14-8
6.818
13
Cedar Cliff
14-9
6.783
14
Cocalico
13-10
6.783
15
Carlisle
13-9
6.682
16
Chambersburg
12-8
6.632
17
Exeter
12-8
6.45018
Harrisburg
11-9
6.450
19
Wilson
12-11
6.304
20
Gettysburg
13-10
6.087
21
Waynesboro
11-11
5.455
22
Penn Manor
9-14
5.826
23
Solanco
9-13
5.818
24
Manheim Township
8-14
5.773
25
Cumberland Valley
8-14
5.591
26
Central York
9-14
5.522
27
Southwestern
9-14
5.478
28
Ephrata
7-15
5.409
29
Governor Mifflin
7-15
5.182
30
Central Dauphin
6-16
5.136
31
Warwick
5-18
4.913
32
Spring Grove
5-18
4.565
33
Lower Dauphin
4-18
4.364
34
Twin Valley
6-16
4.318
35
Garden Spot
1-22
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
4-18
3.455

If the season ended tonight the first round matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Chambersburg/17Exeter
2CD East vs 15Carlisle/18Harrisburg
3McCaskey vs 14Cocalico/19Wilson
4Cedar Crest vs 13Cedar Cliff/20Gettysburg
5Red Lion vs 12Mechanicsburg/21Waynesboro
6Hempfield vs 11Elizabethtown
7Red Land vs10Dallastown
8York vs 9Conestoga Valley

Ok let me go down the list of possibilities here with each seed.

Reading clinched the #1 seed.
Like I said last night. CD East wins they have the 2 seed, if they lose McCaskey gets the 2 seed and CD East gets the 3 seed.
Cedar Crest clinched the 4 seed
Red Lion clinched the 5 seed
Hempfield clinched the 6 seed
Red Land clinched the 7 seed no matter if they win or lose on Friday against Susquehanna Township
York has clinched the 8 seed
If Conestoga Valley beats Governor Mifflin they stay as the 9 seed. If they would lose which I dont expect to happen Dallastown becomes the 9 and CV falls to the 10 seed.
I could go into a whole lot of scenarios for the 11-17 slots but they would confuse you as well as me. But if Harrisburg wins like I have said before they will either be 15 or 16. If they lose they stay at 18. I do know that if Harrisburg and Cedar Cliff win then we will have Harrisburg at 15, Carlisle at 16, Chambersburg at 17, and Exeter at 18.
Wilson won tonight to clinch their berth and will be the 19 seed
Gettysburg will be the 20 seed.
Waynesboro will try and finish their three game gauntlet to get in as the 21 seed with their game against West Perry. So win and their in lose and their done.

Also if you folks have any questions I will try and clarify and if you are at a game on Friday night please post a score on Pennlive as soon as you can so I can get the first round matchups as soon as I can for everyone.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/30

2008-01-30T20:52:00.000-08:00

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/29

2008-01-29T20:57:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
23-0
8.739
2
CD East
19-2
8.286
3
McCaskey
17-4
8.048
4
Red Lion
19-4
7.739
5
Cedar Crest
17-4
7.714
6
Hempfield
16-5
7.619
7
Red Land
17-4
7.476
8
York
17-6
7.261
9
Dallastown
15-7
7.045
10
Conestoga Valley
13-8
7.000
11
Mechanicsburg
15-6
6.952
12
Cedar Cliff
14-9
6.783
13
Elizabethtown
13-9
6.773
14
Cocalico
12-10
6.682
15
Exeter
12-7
6.632
16
Chambersburg
12-8
6.632
17
Carlisle
12-9
6.619
18
Harrisburg
11-9
6.450
19
Wilson
11-11
6.182
20
Gettysburg
12-10
6.000
21
Penn Manor
9-13
5.910
22
Solanco
9-12
5.905
23
Manheim Township
8-13
5.857
24
Cumberland Valley
8-14
5.591
25
Central York
9-14
5.522
26
Southwestern
9-14
5.478
27
Ephrata
7-14
5.476
28
Waynesboro
10-11
5.286
29
Governor Mifflin
7-14
5.238
30
Central Dauphin
6-15
5.190
31
Warwick
5-17
4.955
32
Spring Grove
5-18
4.565
33
Twin Valley
6-15
4.381
34
Lower Dauphin
4-17
4.381
35
Garden Spot
1-21
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
5-18
3.565

If the season ended today the first round matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Chambersburg/17Carlisle
2CD East vs 15Exeter/18Harrisburg
3McCaskey vs 14Cocalico/19Wilson
4Red Lion vs 13Elizabethtown/20Gettysburg
5Cedar Crest vs 12Cedar Cliff
6Hempfield vs 11Mechanicsburg
7Red Land vs 10Conestoga Valley
8York vs 9Dallastown

Congratulations goes out to Gettysburg and Carlisle for clinching births into the district tournament. Also, Waynesboro one the first leg of their three game gauntlet to get into the district tournament.

Reading 90 Exeter 56

2008-01-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights capped their season of dreams with a convincing 90-56 win over the visiting Exeter Eagles tonight at the Geigle. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Smart move by the coaching staff in holding Trenity Burdine out of tonight's game. The only meaning of tonight's game was on whether we finished off the regular season undefeated. The 6 days off should really come in handy as we have some players who need to heal the bumps and bruises.
Was kind of disappointed with the sluggish start. But as any championship team does they finished the final three quarters strong. Things really started to pick up for us when Dawkins got into the game. The one thing that I really took notice to when Marcus got in the game was that our defensive intensity really came to the forefront.
I thought the perfect example of what this team is all about was tonight when reserve forward By-Nee Waples had a dunk in the closing minutes and the bench just rose to their feet. Things like this show how they are one unit and have great chemistry and camaraderie. This team has taken a lot of insults and criticisms from outsiders and have played hard all year and given the school and the city something to be very proud of.
As we look ahead to the county playoffs we will play the second place finisher out of Berks IV. With us being well rested it should really help since whoever we play assuming that the Berks IV race goes to a tiebreaker will have played a hard fought game on Friday night and then have to ratchet it up to play us while we have been healing since Tuesday night.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/28

2008-01-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
22-0
8.727
2
CD East
19-2
8.286
3
McCaskey
17-4
8.048
4
Red Lion
19-4
7.739
5
Cedar Crest
17-4
7.714
6
Hempfield
16-5
7.619
7
Red Land
17-4
7.476
8
York
17-6
7.261
9
Dallastown
15-7
7.045
10
Conestoga Valley
13-8
7.000
11
Mechanicsburg
14-6
6.950
12
Exeter
12-6
6.778
13
Elizabethtown
13-9
6.773
14
Cedar Cliff
13-9
6.682
15
Cocalico
12-10
6.682
16
Harrisburg
11-8
6.579
17
Chambersburg
10-8
6.556
18
Carlisle
11-9
6.500
19
Wilson
11-11
6.182
20
Gettysburg
11-10
5.905
21
Penn Manor
9-13
5.910
22
Solanco
9-12
5.905
23
Manheim Township
8-13
5.857
24
Cumberland Valley
8-14
5.591
25
Central York
9-14
5.522
26
Southwestern
9-14
5.478
27
Ephrata
7-14
5.476
28
Central Dauphin
6-14
5.250
29
Waynesboro
9-11
5.150
30
Governor Mifflin
6-14
5.100
31
Warwick
5-17
4.955
32
Spring Grove
5-18
4.565
33
Twin Valley
6-14
4.450
34
Lower Dauphin
4-17
4.381
35
Garden Spot
1-21
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
4-18
3.455

If the season ended today the first round matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Harrisburg/17Chambersburg
2CD East vs 15Cocalico/18Carlisle
3McCaskey vs 14Cedar Cliff/19Wilson
4Red Lion vs 13Elizabethtown/20Gettysburg
5Cedar Crest vs 12Exeter
6Hempfield vs 11Mechanicsburg
7Red Land vs 10Conestoga Valley
8York vs 9Dallastown

Harrisburg should move up to around #14 with two winnable games this week.
Solanco has been eliminated with tonight's loss and with the Wilson loss the Bulldogs now need to find a way to win against Mifflin to get in.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/27

2008-01-27T17:23:00.000-08:00

If the season ended today the first round matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Cedar Cliff/17Chambersburg
2CD East vs 15Harrisburg/18Carlisle
3McCaskey vs 14Elizabethtown/19Wilson
4Cedar Crest vs 13Exeter/20Gettysburg
5Red Lion vs 12Cocalico
6Hempfield vs 11Conestoga Valley
7Red Land vs 10Mechanicsburg
8York vs 9Dallastown

The following teams are still alive for a district berth:

Carlisle 11-9: Need one more win to get in. Should get it with a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way. Remaing games are Central Dauphin, Kennard Dale, and at Cedar Cliff
Wilson 11-10: Need one more win in final two games to get in. Remaing games are Emmaus and at Governor Mifflin. They better beat Emmaus cause the Mifflin game could be a tough one as it will be Goveror Mifflin's playoff game as this will be their last game of the regular season.
Gettysburg 11-9: Needs one win in last four games which should be attainable. Remaining schedule is Susquehanna Township, At Palmyra, At Littlestown, and Lower Dauphin.
Solanco 9-11: Needs to win last three games to qualify which is almost a herculian task. All three remaining games are against teams with at least 12 wins. If they miss out they will look back at loss against 6-14 Ephrata as the backbreaker. Remainig games are At Elizabethtown, At Cocalico, and Oxford.
Waynesboro: In the same bind as Solanco in that they need to win three straight to get in. Still have a punchers chance to make it in that their final three games are all against teams with 8 wins or less. Remaining schedule is At Northern, At Central Dauphin, and West Perry.

Sunday Night Rant

2008-01-27T15:57:00.000-08:00

While I was waiting for the Harrisburg score to come in, I wanted to take time to get something off my chest. It occurred to me this week after hearing numerous times announcements of sportsmanship and behavior at the start of the game that these announcements are getting longer and longer and now are getting almost as long as Dr. King's war and peace speech. I realize administrators and the powers that be in the PIAA realize this is necessary but I think if you asked 99.9% of fans if this is necessary they would say no and be able to tell you what is acceptable and not acceptable. I really belief that the PIAA has taken some of the fun out of going to high school games and they need to hear from some of us because at times they seem to be a communistic like organization. I went and did some research on the PIAA's sportsmanship policy and what they consider unacceptable behavior. I will go through each category of what PIAA considers unacceptable behavior and state what I think the good parts and bad parts of it are:

Yelling, waving arms, or objects during and opponent's free throw attempt: I know when i was a student this rule was not on the books but I know some disagree I think it is a rule that is OK with regards to the waving arms or objects. But not being able to yell while an opponent is shooting a foul shot is an example of how they are trying to take away the fun from all of us. To me as long as your not yelling anything vulgar or derisive there should be no problem with yelling during an opponents foul shot attempt.
Disrespectful or derogatory cheers, chants, songs, or gestures: I think this rule is spot on and pretty good. I think the higher up's should take the time and realize at times that kids will be kids and nicely let them know what is unacceptable.
Criticizing contest officials in any way: This is one I have a huge problem with. So every player, coach or fan who argues with an official is showing unacceptable behavior. I think what the PIAA should realize is that bad calls happen and are part of the game but it is acceptable for fans and coaches to show their displeasure as long as they are not profane in doing so. I don't see what is wrong with a fan who thinks their team is getting the short end of the stick yelling out to an official that there are two teams on the court or to call them both ways. Also officials should be bigger people than to react to this.
Cheers that antagonize an opponent: I think this is something that should be dealt with on a case by case basis. I think in some cases where fans will yell to another team's fan's chants of "Why so quiet" or "We cant hear you" are perfectly fine. But when they get mean spirited like the Lancaster Catholic fans chanting "Food stamps" at the Columbia fans should be dealt with swiftly.
Refusing to shake hands or give recognition of good performance: I think there is no place for not shaking hands with an opponent after the game. But in reading in depth the PIAA's sportsmanship section on their website they think you should cheer an opponents great play. I'm sorry your not going to get me to cheer for an opponent making a good play against my team. It's high school sports, not high school musical.
Blaming a loss on contest officials, coaches, or participants: This is one that I think is violated way too much and their is no place for doing such.
Laughing or name calling to distract an opponent: I really don't see this happen a lot so I think it is fine that it is on the books and don't disagree with it.
Use of profanity or displays of anger: I know the PIAA wants everyone to be nice and I don't think fans should use vulgarity in any way. But these men in their stuffed suits in the PIAA office I think should realize that if this rule applies to coaches then 95% of coaches have exhibited unacceptable behavior.
Doing own cheers instead of following the lead of cheerleaders: This is another rule that is so asinine and needs to be taken off the books. I think cheerleaders are wonderful people and a huge part of high school athletics. But lets face it they don't lead cheers more than maybe two or three times a quarter. So the other times the fans start a chant where they spell out the letters of their school or nickname are showing unacceptable behavior. Also their our times where a school's cheerleaders are unable to attend for numerous reasons, so the PIAA is saying to us that you cant start a cheer of your own and you will just have to sit on your hands.
Wearing extreme of unusual clothing or excessive body paint that detracts from the contest: Another rule that is extraneous and I don't see the point of it. So as I attended the Central Catholic/Holy Name game last night, then all those CC fans who had their chest's painted with letters spelling out Cardinals should have been ejected. If I was a player a nice looking cheerleader would be far more distracting than some student with their face or body painted. This rule is another example of the PIAA trying to legislate the fun out of athletics.

After reading through this list of items my biggest fear is that they are almost expecting fans to go to the game and either sit on their hands or wear a straight jacket. These athletic events are supposed to be fun and my biggest fear is that the PIAA is trying to legislate the fun out of it. I realize that no one in the PIAA will read this but I welcome their feedback as well as my loyal readers feedback.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/26

2008-01-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
22-0
8.727
2
CD East
19-2
8.286
3
McCaskey
16-4
8.000
4
Cedar Crest
17-3
7.900
5
Red Lion
18-4
7.682
6
Hempfield
15-5
7.550
7
Red Land
17-4
7.476
8
York
16-6
7.182
9
Dallastown
14-7
6.952
10
Mechanicsburg
14-6
6.950
11
Conestoga Valley
12-8
6.900
12
Cocalico
12-9
6.810
13
Exeter
12-6
6.778
14
Harrisburg
11-7
6.722
15
Elizabethtown
12-9
6.667
16
Cedar Cliff
12-9
6.571
17
Chambersburg
10-8
6.556
18
Carlisle
11-9
6.500
19
Wilson
11-10
6.286
20
Gettysburg
11-9
6.050
21
Solanco
9-11
6.000
22
Manheim Township
8-12
5.950
23
Penn Manor
8-13
5.762
24
Cumberland Valley
8-13
5.714
25
Central York
9-13
5.591
26
Southwestern
9-13
5.545
27
Ephrata
6-14
5.300
28
Central Dauphin
6-14
5.250
29
Waynesboro
9-11
5.150
30
Governor Mifflin
6-14
5.100
31
Warwick
5-16
5.000
32
Spring Grove
5-17
4.591
33
Twin Valley
6-14
4.450
34
Lower Dauphin
4-16
4.400
35
Garden Spot
1-20
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
4-17
3.524

If the season ended today the matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Cedar Cliff/17Chambersburg
2CD East vs 15Elizabethtown/18Carlisle
3McCaskey vs 14Harrisburg/19Wilson
4Cedar Crest vs 13 Exeter/20Gettysburg
5Red Lion vs 12Cocalico
6Hempfield vs 11Conestoga Valley
7Red Land vs 10Mechanicsburg
8York vs 9Dallastown

Congratulations go out to the Chambersburg Trojans who became the 17th team in the AAAA district field.

Some people have asked if Harrisburg loses to Chester will they fall to 16th and the answer to that is no they would only be the 15th seed.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/25

2008-01-25T23:12:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
22-0
8.727
2
CD East
19-2
8.286
3
McCaskey
16-4
8.000
4
Cedar Crest
17-3
7.900
5
Red Lion
18-4
7.682
6
Hempfield
15-5
7.550
7
Red Land
17-4
7.476
8
York
16-6
7.182
9
Dallastown
14-7
6.952
10
Mechanicsburg
14-6
6.950
11
Conestoga Valley
12-8
6.900
12
Cocalico
12-9
6.810
13
Exeter
12-6
6.778
14
Harrisburg
11-7
6.722
15
Cedar Cliff
12-9
6.571
16
Elizabethtown
12-9
6.667
17
Carlisle
11-9
6.500
18
Chambersburg
9-8
6.471
19
Wilson
11-10
6.286
20
Gettysburg
10-9
5.895
21
Solanco
9-11
6.000
22
Manheim Township
8-12
5.950
23
Penn Manor
8-13
5.762
24
Cumberland Valley
8-13
5.714
25
Central York
9-13
5.591
26
Southwestern
9-13
5.545
27
Ephrata
6-14
5.300
28
Central Dauphin
6-14
5.250
29
Waynesboro
9-11
5.150
30
Warwick
5-16
5.000
31
Governor Mifflin
5-14
4.895
32
Spring Grove
5-17
4.591
33
Twin Valley
6-14
4.450
34
Lower Dauphin
4-16
4.400
35
Garden Spot
1-19
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
4-17
3.524

If the season ended today the matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Elizabethtown/17Carlisle
2CD East vs 15Cedar Cliff/18Chambersburg
3McCaskey vs 14Harrisburg/19Wilson
4Cedar Crest vs 13Exeter/20Gettysburg
5Red Lion vs 12Cocalico
6Hempfield vs 11Conestoga Valley
7Red Land vs 10Mechanicsburg
8York vs 9Dallastown

Congratulations to the Reading High Red Knights for clinching the #1 seed. Congratulations also go out to Harrisburg, Cocalico, Cedar Cliff, Conestoga Valley, and Elizabethtown for clinching bids in the District tournament.

So as of now 16 teams have clinched and it looks like right now that the District III AAAA tournament will have 20 teams in it.

Another thing is that tonight McCaskey leaped ahead of Cedar Crest to the number 3 spot. If the Tornadoes win their last two games and CD East loses to Steel High the Red Tornadoes will finish ahead of CD East for the #2 spot.

Reading 94 Muhlenberg 48

2008-01-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights had a dominating performance tonight in a 94-48 win over the Muhlenberg Muhls. The win leaves the Red Knights one win away from a perfect regular season. Here are my thoughts on the game:

I know we have had a lot of impressive wins this year, but I think this was our most dominant performance of the year. It seems awkward to say but the game was over four minutes in. I think you would be hard pressed to find anything to complain about in our game tonight. Also should be noted that every player on the Reading rosters scored a point tonight and every player except for Camara had a field goal.
Macho set the tempo tonight. He ramped up the defense on Muhlenberg's best player Derek Zeller and constantly knifed through the lane and attacked the rim. Earlier in the week Macho had called out Zeller and had told him he was coming for him. So it is refreshing to see a player who can talk the talk but also walk the walk. I also think you will be hard pressed to find a faster point guard in the state of Pennsylvania.
Jermaine Jackson looked better tonight on his injured ankle. I don't think he has quite the same explosiveness but he did make his presence felt as he was much better tonight than he was last night.
Jordan Burdine led all scorers with 15 points and 8 assists. Once again with Jordan out their it showed how potent our offense is and is almost impossible to hold down for a whole game.
I thought Coach Reyes and his coaching staff coached the pants off the Muhlenberg coaching staff. First, he had his team ready for bear tonight and they were locked in from the start. He also earns points running 2 guys at Derek Zeller in the first quarter which helped to get Muhlenberg on their heels. It amazes me how these teams who just don't have the horses try and run up and down the court against the Red Knights. It is like they are playing Russian Roulette. The other thing amazes me with our opponents is how they always come out in zone and we just shoot them right out of the game early on.
With tonight's win we are the number 1 seed in the District III AAAA tournament and are probably looking at a first game being played at Governor Mifflin or Wilson.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/24

2008-01-24T20:12:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
21-0
8.762
2
CD East
18-2
8.250
3
Cedar Crest
17-2
8.105
4
McCaskey
15-4
7.947
5
Red Lion
17-4
7.619
6
Hempfield
14-5
7.474
7
Red Land
16-4
7.450
8
York
16-5
7.333
9
Exeter
12-5
6.941
10
Mechanicsburg
13-6
6.895
11
Dallastown
13-7
6.850
12
Conestoga Valley
11-8
6.789
13
Cocalico
11-9
6.700
14
Carlisle
11-8
6.684
15
Harrisburg
10-7
6.588
16
Elizabethtown
11-9
6.550
17
Cedar Cliff
11-9
6.500
18
Chambersburg
9-8
6.471
19
Wilson
10-10
6.150
20
Gettysburg
9-9
5.833
21
Solanco
9-10
6.105
22
Manheim Township
8-11
6.053
23
Cumberland Valley
8-12
5.800
24
Central York
9-12
5.667
25
Southwestern
9-12
5.619
26
Penn Manor
7-13
5.600
27
Ephrata
6-13
5.368
28
Central Dauphin
6-13
5.316
29
Waynesboro
9-10
5.263
30
Warwick
5-15
5.050
31
Governor Mifflin
5-14
4.895
32
Twin Valley
6-13
4.526
33
Lower Dauphin
4-15
4.474
34
Spring Grove
4-17
4.381
35
Garden Spot
1-18
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
4-16
3.550

If the season ended today the matchups would be the following

1Reading vs 16Elizabethtown/17Cedar Cliff
2CD East vs 15Harrisburg/18Chambersburg
3Cedar Crest vs 14Carlisle/19Wilson
4McCaskey vs 13Cocalico/20Gettysburg
5Red Lion vs 12Conestoga Valley
6Hempfield vs 11Dallastown
7Red Land vs 10Mechanicsburg
8York vs 9Exeter

Reading 89 Governor Mifflin 43

2008-01-24T19:02:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights coasted to an easy 89-43 win tonight at home against the over matched Governor Mifflin Mustangs. Here are my thoughts on the game:

It was great to see Jordan Burdine on the court and in uniform tonight. He never really drove the ball to the whole but he has not lost his jumper as he made four three pointers. I didn't think he would start tonight, but he did and his play didn't skip a beat. When he is on the court it gives the offense so much balance and has to honor all of our shooters.
I loved how we came out strong again and let Mifflin know there was no chance for them in tonight's game. Good job by Coach Reyes in getting our starters some minutes but getting them some rest in the 4th quarter. I know some have wondered why we would play back to back games but it is a good thing to go through and I don't expect it to hamper us in the least.
Jermaine Jackson started tonight and looked to be playing at 75% with a sprained ankle. I know some might want him to rest but having him out their at 75% alters shots on the inside and after Tuesday. He will have a full six days to rest before the county playoffs start. Jermaine only had five points and I didn't think we did a good job of getting him touches in the first quarter.
Joshua Sheriff had another solid effort tonight with 8 points off the bench. It is nice to see a player take advantage of the time he is getting in Marcus Dawkins absence. You've got to wonder if and when Dawkins comes back if he will be behind Sheriff on the depth chart.
Tonight's win clinched a Berks I regular season title and a tie for the #1 seed in the district playoffs. I will have updated rankings later on tonight.
The last thing I wanted to talk about was on the Pennlive board I have seen a number of rival fans complain about us running up the score, playing dirty, or just having an open animosity toward the Reading High program. I really think we should come to the fact as being the biggest school out there were never going to be the most well liked or have verbal bouquets thrown our way when talking about our team. So I really think we need to embrace the image of being the big bully on the block. Kind of the same way the Patriots or the the Oakland Raiders of the 1970's. Just my opinion would love to hear what the rest of the Red Knight nation thinks.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/22

2008-01-22T21:25:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
20-0
8.750
2
CD East
18-2
8.250
3
Cedar Crest
17-2
8.105
4
McCaskey
15-4
7.947
5
Red Lion
17-4
7.619
6
Hempfield
14-5
7.474
7
Red Land
16-4
7.450
8
York
16-5
7.333
9
Exeter
12-5
6.941
10
Mechanicsburg
13-6
6.895
11
Dallastown
13-7
6.850
12
Conestoga Valley
11-8
6.789
13
Cocalico
11-9
6.700
14
Carlisle
11-8
6.684
15
Harrisburg
10-7
6.588
16
Chambersburg
9-8
6.471
17
Cedar Cliff
10-9
6.421
18
Elizabethtown
10-9
6.421
19
Wilson
10-10
6.150
20
Gettysburg
9-9
5.833
21
Solanco
9-10
6.105
22
Manheim Township
8-11
6.053
23
Cumberland Valley
8-11
5.895
24
Central York
9-11
5.800
25
Southwestern
9-12
5.619
26
Penn Manor
7-13
5.600
27
Ephrata
6-13
5.368
28
Central Dauphin
6-13
5.316
29
Waynesboro
9-10
5.263
30
Warwick
5-15
5.050
31
Governor Mifflin
5-13
4.944
32
Twin Valley
6-13
4.526
33
Lower Dauphin
4-15
4.474
34
Spring Grove
4-17
4.381
35
Garden Spot
1-18
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
4-16
3.550

If the season ended today the first round matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Chambersburg/17Cedar Cliff
2CD East vs 15Harrisburg/18Elizabethtown
3Cedar Crest vs 14Carlisle/19Wilson
4McCaskey vs. 13Cocalico/20Gettysburg
5Red Lion vs 12 Conestoga Valley
6Hempfield vs 11Dallastown
7Red Land vs 10Mechanicsburg
8York vs 9Exeter

Reading 89 Fleetwood 54

2008-01-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights improved their record to a perfect 20-0 with a 89-54 win over the Fleetwood Tigers at Fleetwood High School tonight. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Jermaine Jackson turned and ankle tonight as he stepped on a Fleetwood player. At first it looked pretty bad but he was able to put weight on it and did return to action for a couple of minutes. Good job by Coach Reyes to get him out of the game once it was clear that the game was well in hand. Hopefully with some treatment he will be able to play on Thursday but it would be foolish to rush him back out their. Our 20-0 record has afforded us the chance to rest some guys if they really need it.
It was good to see Jordan Burdine at least in street clothes rooting on his teammates. Also, was nice to see him sit next to the coach and have a smile on his face. I think what Coach Reyes will do is have him work his way back into the starting lineup. I would guess he probably will come off the bench on Thursday and Friday nights for about 8-10 minutes a game, then hopefully have him start on senior night.
Good to see us shoot a much better percentage at the foul line tonight as we went 6-8 from the line. The only negative I thought we gave up way too many easy baskets but I don't think its anything to get bent out of shape about. Because on Saturday night West York did not have a field goal in the last 3:30 of the game.
One thing we have really found out over the last four games is that we can count on Joshua Sheriff to come off the bench and give the squad some offense. It was also good to see Demrick Cook have a solid game in extended play tonight. Demrick should be lauded for how good of a team player he has cause most kids who are starters at the beginning of the season and then our relegated to playing 6-8 minutes a game would just quit and he hasn't complained and just worked hard.

Weekly Roundup

2008-01-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

I first wanted to apologize for giving some incorrect info last night. Reading does not clinch the #1 seed with two wins. They clinch a tie for the #1 seed with two wins.

Ill first start by giving an update on where all 36 teams in AAAA stand after all games were played for this weekend.

Teams Clinching bids

Reading
CD East
Cedar Crest
McCaskey
Red Land
Red Lion
Hempfield
York
Mechanicsburg
Exeter
Dallastown

Teams who haven't clinched a bid but our in decent to really good shape to clinch:

Conestoga Valley 11-7: Needs one more win to clinch. Have three tough league games upcoming but finish up with a one win Garden Spot and a underachieving Governor Mifflin team.
Carlisle 11-7: Needs one more win to clinch. Has not played good ball as of late as they are in the midst of a three game losing streak. Tough week with games against CD East and Steel High. But should get a win against Cedar Cliff or Kennard Dale.
Cocalico 10-8: Need two wins in last four games to clinch. Darlings of December and Early January but seem to be leaking oil as they are in the midst of a four game losing streak and have lost six of their last eight games. Once thought to be a forgone conclusion that they would make it now not so sure. Should win against Garden Spot but then finish up against rival Ephrata who they have had little success with in the past and then go on to play Solanco and Conestoga Valley.
Cedar Cliff 10-8: Need two more wins to clinch. Have lost four of their last five games but they are done playing Steel High and CD East. So they should get in but like Cocalico are leaking oil right now.
Harrisburg 9-7: Also need two more wins to clinch. Have tough games left with Chester and Steel High but should get to 11 wins.
Chambersburg 8-8: Only play 20 PIAA games so they need two wins in their last four games. Won't be easy to get those wins with their schedule remaining. They play Cedar Cliff and Greencastle-Antrim this week and finish up with McDevitt and Harrisburg.
Elizabethtown 9-9: One of the hottest teams lately with winning three straight and seven of their last nine. Also helps that four of their final five games are on their home court.
Solanco 9-9: They are another team playing good ball lately with winning three of their last four games. They need to finish 3-2 down the stretch which wont be easy. Could come down to their last game on Feb. 1 against a tough Oxford team.
Waynesboro 9-9: Also need to finish 3-2 down the stretch to get in. Four of their five remaining games are on the road. It is a virtual lock that if they get in they will be the lowest seeded team cause of there very low power rating.
Wilson 9-10: Some might say their chances aren't good. But when you look at their schedule not a tough lot to get through. But only one of their last four is on their home court. Their playoff life could come down to their final game against crosstown rival Governor Mifflin in Shillington.

Teams whose playoff hopes are on life support:

Manheim Township 7-10: Need to win four of their last five games to get in which isn't going to happen with games against Cedar Crest, Hempfield, and Mccaskey left on their schedule.
Central York 9-10: Need to win three of their last four and have games against Red Lion and York left so they look to be staying home come February 2.
Cumberland Valley 7-11: One more loss will eliminate them and that should come on Friday against CD East.
Gettysburg 8-9: Need to go 4-2 down the stretch to get in.
Southwestern 9-11: One more loss eliminates them and I don't see them winning any of their remaining games with them playing York, Red Lion, and Dallastown.

Teams who have been eliminated:

Penn Manor
Central Dauphin
Ephrata
Warwick
Governor Mifflin
Twin Valley
Lower Dauphin
Spring Grove
Garden Spot
York Vo-Tech

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/19

2008-01-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
19-0
8.790
2
CD East
16-2
8.167
3
Cedar Crest
16-2
8.056
4
McCaskey
14-4
7.889
5
Red Land
16-3
7.737
6
Red Lion
16-4
7.550
7
Hempfield
13-5
7.389
8
York
15-5
7.250
9
Conestoga Valley
11-7
6.944
10
Carlisle
11-7
6.833
11
Mechanicsburg
12-6
6.833
12
Exeter
11-5
6.813
13
Dallastown
12-7
6.737
14
Cocalico
10-9
6.579
15
Cedar Cliff
10-8
6.556
16
Harrisburg
9-7
6.500
17
Chambersburg
8-8
6.313
18
Elizabethtown
9-9
6.278
19
Solanco
9-9
6.222
20
Waynesboro
9-9
5.389
21
Wilson
9-10
6.053
22
Manheim Township
7-10
6.000
23
Central York
9-10
5.895
24
Cumberland Valley
7-11
5.722
25
Gettysburg
8-9
5.706
26
Southwestern
9-11
5.700
27
Penn Manor
7-12
5.684
28
Central Dauphin
6-12
5.444
29
Ephrata
5-13
5.167
30
Warwick
5-13
5.167
31
Governor Mifflin
5-12
5.059
32
Twin Valley
6-12
4.556
33
Lower Dauphin
4-14
4.500
34
Spring Grove
4-16
4.400
35
Garden Spot
1-17
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3-16
3.368

If the season ended today the matchups would be the following:
1Reading vs 16Harrisburg/17Chambersburg
2CD East vs. 15Cedar Cliff/18 Elizabethtown
3Cedar Crest vs 14Cocalico/19Solanco
4McCaskey vs. 13 Dallastown/20Waynesboro
5Red Land vs. 12Exeter
6Red Lion vs 11Mechanicsburg
7Hempfield vs 10 Carlisle
8York vs 9Conestoga Valley

Reading 55 West York 53

2008-01-19T20:38:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights continued their perfect season with a thrilling, heart stopping 55-53 win over the Bulldogs from West York tonight at West York. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Jermaine Jackson had probably his best game of his Reading career tonight with 20 points and the winning basket on a driving dunk in the last minute of the game. Every great player has a landmark performance and I think for Jermaine tonight was his. Great job by Coach Reyes to see we had a big size advantage and keep attacking it and forcing West York to make an adjustment.
I heard numerous people on the board and after the game complain about the officiating. I thought the officials let both teams play and decide the game. Folks I think the thing to remember here is when you go on the road and especially to another county to play a road game your never going to get a whole lot of calls. The officials really grasped the concept that no one paid their $4 to come watch them, they came to watch the players from both schools play.
Tonight's game was a total team effort. Every player seemed to have made a contribution. This is a sign that this team is special and is going to do whatever it takes to win.
Nelson Leon woke up out of his offensive doldrums and hit two big three's in the fourth quarter to get Reading back in the lead. In the fourth quarter he also played some great lock down defense.
Demrick Cook played very solid and was definitely a force on the defensive side of the court in the limited minutes he played tonight. It was also valuable since it gave Jermaine some time to rest on the bench.
Tonight's game was what makes high school basketball special. Two great teams battling it out in a playoff type environment in front of a packed raucous gym.
Credit goes out to both teams for playing in this kind of game so close to the end of the regular season. I think you will see this game will make both teams better. West York was definitely as I expected a well coached team who didn't come in to the game in awe of Reading. I think they are definitely a contender for a county title in York County and definitely a contender for the district crown in AAA. Who is to say we might have seen two district champions going at it tonight.
I must give props to West York because I think Reading has probably played teams with better talent but I think of all the teams they have played in the regular season they were the smartest and best coached team the Red Knights have seen to this point. I wish them well and their fans had class which is something you cant say for another team nicknamed the Bulldogs.
So the season of dreams continues with 4 more Berks league games before we can clinch a perfect regular season. I hope we come back at full strength with all of our players on Tuesday.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/17

2008-01-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
18-0
8.833
2
CD East
16-2
8.167
3
Cedar Crest
15-2
8.059
4
McCaskey
14-4
7.889
5
Red Land
16-3
7.737
6
Red Lion
16-4
7.550
7
Hempfield
12-5
7.294
8
York
15-5
7.250
9
Exeter
11-4
7.000
10
Conestoga Valley
11-7
6.944
11
Carlisle
11-7
6.833
12
Mechanicsburg
12-6
6.833
13
Cedar Cliff
10-7
6.765
14
Dallastown
11-7
6.611
15
Cocalico
10-9
6.579
16
Harrisburg
9-7
6.500
17
Chambersburg
8-8
6.313
18
Solanco
9-9
6.222
19
Waynesboro
9-9
5.389
20
Elizabethtown
8-9
6.176
21
Wilson
9-10
6.053
22
Manheim Township
7-10
6.000
23
Central York
9-10
5.895
24
Southwestern
9-10
5.842
25
Cumberland Valley
7-10
5.824
26
Gettysburg
8-9
5.706
27
Penn Manor
7-12
5.684
28
Central Dauphin
6-11
5.530
29
Warwick
5-12
5.353
30
Ephrata
5-13
5.167
31
Governor Mifflin
4-12
4.813
32
Twin Valley
6-12
4.556
33
Lower Dauphin
4-13
4.529
34
Spring Grove
4-16
4.400
35
Garden Spot
1-17
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3-16
3.368

If the season ended today the matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Harrisburg/17Chambersburg
2CD East vs 15/Cocalico/18Solanco
3Cedar Crest vs 14Dallastown/19Waynesboro
4McCaskey vs 13Cedar Cliff
5Red Land vs 12Mechanicsburg
6Red Lion vs 11Carlisle
7Hempfield vs 10Conestoga Valley
8York vs 9Exeter

Reading 82 Twin Valley 28

2008-01-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights improved to 18-0 with a 82-28 drubbing of the Twin Valley Raiders at the Geigle tonight. Here are my thoughts on the game:

It was good to see us come out on fire and put away a hapless team. Your not going to find out much tonight against a terrible team. But I thought our energy was really good and it didn't look to me like we were going through the motions.
Jermaine Jackson looked to tweak his knee a little bit. But did return in the second half and looked fine. I expect him to be ready to go and not be affected at all.
The team defense was better tonight. We did a great job shutting down Twin Valley's best player who is the leading scorer in the BCIAA.
I think the BCIAA should wise up and send Twin Valley to Berks III and bring back Hamburg to Berks II. I know they are AAAA but Twin Valley is a woe-be-gone basketball program and has never really been very good. At least if you have Hamburg in Berks II they look like a competent but not great team. Just one person's opinion.
Looking ahead to tomorrow night we come in the much more rested team. We will be playing our third game in 5 days but with tonight's game I don't think we really expended much energy. But West York is coming in playing their fourth game in six days. So I think we should definitely have more energy than West York.
I have gotten to study some tape on West York. They are very well coached and run a very high octane but disciplined offense. Like us, they are very unselfish and a great outside shooting team. There biggest player is 6'4 but they still have decent size with all of their other starters being around 6'2. The one thing you can take to the bank about them is their not going to come in fearing us and I believe give us our toughest game to date since way back in December against Academy Park.
I expect us to win the game by wearing them down in the fourth quarter. But I don't see anything more than a 12 point game. Folks I did get to see that their gym is not very big so I urge you if your making the trip to get their early, preferably around 6.
If you needed directions go to this link:

http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?go=1&do=nw&rmm=1&un=m&cl=EN&ct=NA&rsres=1&1ffi=&1l=&1g=&1pl=&1v=&1n=&2ffi=&2l=&2g=&2pl=&2v=&2n=&1pn=&1a=&1c=reading&1s=PA&1z=&2pn=&2a=1800+bannister+street&2c=york&2s=pa&2z=17404&r=f

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/16

2008-01-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.824
2
CD East
8.118
3
Cedar Crest
8.000
4
McCaskey
7.824
5
Red Land
7.722
6
Hempfield
7.500
7
Red Lion
7.474
8
York
7.158
9
Carlisle
7.000
10
Exeter
6.929
11
Mechanicsburg
6.833
12
Conestoga Valley
6.824
13
Cedar Cliff
6.765
14
Dallastown
6.765
15
Cocalico
6.722
16
Harrisburg
6.667
17
Central York
6.000
18
Waynesboro
5.389
19
Chambersburg
6.133
20
Solanco
6.059
21
Manheim Township
6.000
22
Elizabethtown
6.000
23
Wilson
5.944
24
Penn Manor
5.778
25
Southwestern
5.667
26
Central Dauphin
5.625
27
Cumberland Valley
5.625
28
Gettysburg
5.563
29
Warwick
5.353
30
Ephrata
5.235
31
Governor Mifflin
4.933
32
Lower Dauphin
4.625
33
Twin Valley
4.588
34
Spring Grove
4.421
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.445

If the season ended today the matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Harrisburg/17Central York
2CD East vs 15Cocalico/18Waynesboro
3Cedar Crest vs 14Dallastown
4McCaskey vs 13 Cedar Cliff
5Red Land vs 12Conestoga Valley
6Hempfield vs 11Mechanicsburg
7Red Lion vs 10Exeter
8York vs 9Carlisle

Facts and Figures on Red Knights Season

2008-01-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

With two more days before the next game I figured I would put some facts and figures on the season with six games left.

High Point Total: 101 vs. McCaskey
Low Point Total: 53 vs. Academy Park
Victories of 20 points or more: 11
Victories of 30 points or more: 6
Victories of 40 points o4 more: 3
Reading has beaten teams in 7 different counties: Berks, Lehigh, Lancaster, York, Delaware, Chester, and Dauphin counties.
All 5 starters for the Red Knights has been the high scorer in a game this season: Jordan Burdine, Justin Rodriquez, Jermaine Jackson, Trenity Burdine, and Nelson Leon
Reading has had 8 players have double figures in points in a game: Jordan Burdine, Demrick Cook, Jermaine Jackson, Trenity Burdine, Nelson Leon, Justin Rodriquez, Marcus Dawkins, and Joshua Sheriff.
Reading has had 8 different players hit a three pointer this year: Jordan Burdine, Trenity Burdine, Jermaine Jackson, Justin Rodriquez, Nelson Leon, Marcus Dawkins, Joshua Sheriff, and Jordan Merriweather.
Reading has scored under 10 points in only 4 quarters this whole season.
Reading has scored 20 or more points in a quarter 29 times and have scored 30 or more points in 4 quarters this season.
Reading has beaten 11 teams with a .500 record or better.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/15

2008-01-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.824
2
CD East
8.438
3
Cedar Crest
8.000
4
McCaskey
7.824
5
Red Land
7.706
6
Red Lion
7.667
7
Hempfield
7.500
8
York
7.056
9
Carlisle
7.000
10
Mechanicsburg
7.000
11
Exeter
6.929
12
Conestoga Valley
6.824
13
Cocalico
6.722
14
Dallastown
6.625
15
Cedar Cliff
6.625
16
Harrisburg
6.500
17
Chambersburg
6.357
18
Central York
6.118
19
Solanco
6.059
20
Manheim Township
6.000
21
Elizabethtown
6.000
22
Wilson
5.944
23
Penn Manor
5.778
24
Central Dauphin
5.733
25
Cumberland Valley
5.733
26
Southwestern
5.471
27
Warwick
5.353
28
Gettysburg
5.333
29
Waynesboro
5.235
30
Ephrata
5.235
31
Governor Mifflin
4.933
32
Lower Dauphin
4.800
33
Twin Valley
4.588
34
Spring Grove
4.445
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.530

Congratulations should go out to the Exeter Eagles. They have become the 10th team to clinch a birth in the District AAAA tournament.

If the season ended today the matchups would be:
1Reading vs 16Harrisburg/17Chambersburg
2CD East vs 15Cedar Cliff/18Central York
3Cedar Crest vs 14Dallastown
4McCaskey vs 13Cocalico
5Red Land vs 12Conestoga Valley
6Red Lion vs 11Exeter
7Hempfield vs 10Mechanicsburg
8York vs 9Carlisle

Reading 79 Daniel Boone 66

2008-01-15T19:42:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights kept their perfect season intact with a very hard fought win over the Blazers of Daniel Boone in Birdsboro. Here are my thoughts on the game:

I wanted to first address the off the court issues that have been reported. Jordan Burdine will be out for a week with a disciplinary issue. I will leave it at that on this issue. It really is nobody's business besides his family and the teams, that is why from this point forward I wont be going into any detail on this issue. At halftime, I was able to overhear Jordan's uncle tell a cheerleader that he would be back on Monday. Marcus Dawkins also will be out for two weeks due to being academically ineligible. I hope this is something Marcus can learn from and I'm not going to crucify the kid because lets all remember he is still a freshman. But with that being said I believe we will become a stronger team throughout this because you will see this team deal with the adversity in a honorable way.
I wont say we looked flat at the start of the game, I think the team almost seemed down because of the distractions and not having two teammates with them. But give Boone credit they came out like a house of fire and ready to play. The thing that I think woke up the team was the overrated chant from the Blazer fans.
Trenity Burdine had his best game of his young Red Knight career. It was good to see him shoulder a big load of the offense tonight.
Jermaine Jackson had a great game as well tonight with 16 points and 12 rebounds. He is going to need to really demand the ball and get his touches down low the rest of the week. I know he missed a couple of dunks tonight, but I think that really has to do with just being fatigued at the end of the game. I wouldn't get bent out of shape on this, since he played a great game tonight.
The rest of the week we are going to really need to ratchet up our defense if we want to stay undefeated. We gave up way too many easy baskets and got manhandled on the defensive boards by Daniel Boone tonight.
I think it should be said that tonight down early a lot of past Red Knight teams would of panicked and this squad just kept working hard and wouldn't be denied. I know a lot of people will say it is going to be hard for us to finish the regular season undefeated, but I say to those people it is supposed to be hard to go through a regular season unscathed and I have total confidence that the leadership on this team is going to give us everything they have.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/14

2008-01-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.875
2
CD East
8.438
3
Cedar Crest
7.933
4
McCaskey
7.750
5
Red Land
7.706
6
Red Lion
7.667
7
Hempfield
7.400
8
York
7.056
9
Carlisle
7.000
10
Mechanicsburg
7.000
11
Cocalico
6.882
12
Exeter
6.846
13
Conestoga Valley
6.688
14
Dallastown
6.625
15
Cedar Cliff
6.625
16
Harrisburg
6.500
17
Chambersburg
6.357
18
Solanco
6.188
19
Central York
6.118
20
Wilson
6.118
21
Penn Manor
5.882
22
Manheim Township
5.812
23
Elizabethtown
5.800
24
Central Dauphin
5.733
25
Cumberland Valley
5.733
26
Southwestern
5.471
27
Warwick
5.438
28
Gettysburg
5.333
29
Ephrata
5.313
30
Waynesboro
5.235
31
Governor Mifflin
5.000
32
Lower Dauphin
4.800
33
Spring Grove
4.445
34
Twin Valley
4.313
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.530

If the season ended today our matchups would be:

1Reading vs 16Harrisburg/17Chambersburg
2CD East vs 15Cedar Cliff/18Solanco
3Cedar Crest vs 14Dallastown/19Central York
4McCaskey vs 13Conestoga Valley
5Red Land vs 12Exeter
6Red Lion vs. 11Cocalico
7Hempfield vs 10 Mechanicsburg
8York vs 9Carlisle

Red Knight fans dont worry about Harrisburg being at 16. I think you will see the Cougars go at worse 4-3 down the stretch and get in around a 13 or 14 seed. Quite possibly we could see a Harrisburg/McCaskey matchup in the first round. But that is looking way down the line.

Weekly Roundup

2008-01-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to touch on a few topics in my weekly roundup.

The teams in District III AAAA fall in four categories. Those clinching bids, those who will likely clinch a bid, those almost eliminated, and those who are eliminated:

Clinching bids:

Reading
McCaskey
Hempfield
York
Red Lion
Cedar Crest
CD East
Red Land
Mechanicsburg

Likely to clinch a bid:

Chambersburg 7-6: Need 3 wins to clinch since they only play 20 PIAA games before the district cutoff. Could be tough though with games against CD East, Steel High, CD, Cedar Cliff, Greencastle Antrim, Bishop McDevitt, and Harrisburg.
Harrisburg 7-6: Need to go .500 down the stretch to qualify in result of playing 21 PIAA games before the cutoff. The win over Lower Merion yesterday was huge for their confidence. Still is very possible that their finale against Chambersburg could be almost like an elimination game.
Wilson 8-9: Needs to go 4-2 to qualify but the toughest part of their schedule is behind them. Might need to beat their rival Governor Mifflin in finale in Shillington to clinch bid.
Dallastown 9-6: Need two more wins to qualify and should be able to get that against some subpar competition in their remaining schedule with games against Lower Dauphin and Spring Grove.
Carlisle 11-6: With one more win they get in. The remaining schedule is not easy but should be able to get a win, if not they really dont deserve to be in.
Central York 9-7: Seems to be a very mediocre York county team. Need 3 wins to qualify. Besides the Spring Grove game not many easy outs on their remaining schedules.
Cedar Cliff 9-6: Has full alotment of 24 games on their schedule before cutoff. Need three wins in their final eight games. Team is leaking oil as we head to the end of the season. Still not a givein that they will make it. Sad after they started the season so promisingly.
Waynesboro 8-8: Needs to finish 4-3 in the final seven games to qualify. Even if they qualify will definitely be the lowest qualifing seed in the playoffs.
Conestoga Valley 9-7: Same as Waynesboro in that they need to go 4-3 to qualify. But dont play any team on their schedule that they really cant beat.
Exeter 9-4: Needs one win to clinch with only playing 20 PIAA games this season. Should get that win with remaining games against Twin Valley and Conrad Weiser.
Solanco 8-8: Needs to finish 4-3 over final seven games to get in. Besides Garden Spot all the Section II teams are very equal so not out of the question to see them get four wins before the end of the season.
Cocalico 10-7: Need two wins in final 6 games to qualify. Should be able to in very even Section II.

Following teams our clinging to life support to get a bid:

Penn Manor: Two more losses to be eliminated.
Central Dauphin: Need to go 6-2 to qualify.
Manheim Township: Two more losses to be eliminated.
Lower Dauphin: Next loss eliminates them.
Warwick: Next loss eliminates them.
Governor Mifflin: Two more losses to be eliminated.
Twin Valley: Next loss eliminates them.
Ephrata: Next loss eliminates them.
Elizabethtown: Needs to go 6-2 down the stretch to qualify.
Gettysburg: Needs to go 6-2 down the stretch to qualify.
Southwestern: Needs to go 5-2 to qualify.
Cumberland Valley: Needs to go 5-2 to qualify.

The following teams have been eliminated:

York Vo-Tech
Spring Grove
Garden Spot

Some folks have asked me about McCaskey getting the 3 seed ahead of Cedar Crest. If they run the table they will get the 3 seed even if Cedar Crest would go 6-1 with the one remaining loss being to the Tornadoes.
For Reading to not be the #1 seed they would have to lose two games. Even if they suprisingly lost two games, CD East would have to run the table.
After seeing a decent sample size of the season I realistically think there are really only about five or six teams who I give a realistic shot of winning the District title. But with that being said after you get past the legitimate contenders of Reading, CD East, Red Land, Red Lion, and Harrisburg there are a lot of teams who are very even and similar. Some might question my calling Harrisburg a contender but as long as they have that black and silver jersey on they always have a chance.

Thats all for now, some great matchups this week which will go a long way in separating the men from the boys.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/12

2008-01-12T21:25:00.001-08:00

1
Reading
8.875
2
CD East
8.400
3
Cedar Crest
7.933
4
McCaskey
7.750
5
Red Lion
7.647
6
Red Land
7.625
7
Hempfield
7.400
8
Carlisle
7.188
9
Mechanicsburg
7.188
10
York
7.000
11
Cocalico
6.882
12
Cedar Cliff
6.866
13
Exeter
6.846
14
Conestoga Valley
6.688
15
Chambersburg
6.615
16
Dallastown
6.533
17
Central York
6.313
18
Harrisburg
6.308
19
Solanco
6.188
20
Waynesboro
5.376
21
Wilson
6.118
22
Cumberland Valley
5.929
23
Penn Manor
5.882
24
Manheim Township
5.812
25
Elizabethtown
5.800
26
Central Dauphin
5.733
27
Southwestern
5.625
28
Warwick
5.438
29
Gettysburg
5.333
30
Ephrata
5.313
31
Governor Mifflin
5.000
32
Lower Dauphin
4.571
33
Spring Grove
4.529
34
Twin Valley
4.313
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.563

If the season ended today the matchups would be as follows:
1Reading vs 16Dallastown/17Central York
2CD East vs 15Chambersburg/18Harrisburg
3Cedar Crest vs 14Conestoga Valley/Solanco
4McCaskey vs 13Exeter/20Waynesboro
5Red Lion vs 12 Cedar Cliff
6 Red Land vs 11 Cocalico
7Hempfield vs 10 York
8 Carlisle vs 9 Mechanicsburg

Reading 79 York 56

2008-01-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights improved to 16-0 with a solid victory over the York High Bearcats in the nightcap of the Hoopgroup Shootout at Harrisburg High this afternoon. Here are my thoughts on the game:

I hope what many are reporting on the Pennlive board is untrue about Jaren Burdine. If it was his last game he did really go out with a bang. If he did something that broke a law I would find it very hard to imagine that Coach Reyes or the administration would let him play.
We really came out flat and it was kind of expected after a big game last night. Part of the problem was we were getting out hustled early and York was on fire from the field. But as the game went on we wore York down and had an easy time of it.
Trenity Burdine had a great game today as well. If his cousin his going to be out we will need him to keep stepping up his game.
The only negative for me from this game is that I thought we needed to get Jermaine more touches down low. He had his way with who ever was guarding him.
Kudos go out to Harrisburg for running a nice event today. Definitely one of the nicer gyms to watch a game at.
PCN really dropped the ball with not covering the games today instead of going for Farm show coverage. Memo to CN8 your viewers in the Reading and York county areas would have liked to have seen the York Reading game on your station as well.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/11

2008-01-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.867
2
CD East
8.400
3
Cedar Crest
7.933
4
McCaskey
7.750
5
Red Lion
7.647
6
Red Land
7.600
7
Hempfield
7.400
8
Carlisle
7.400
9
York
7.188
10
Mechanicsburg
7.188
11
Cocalico
6.882
12
Cedar Cliff
6.866
13
Exeter
6.846
14
Conestoga Valley
6.688
15
Chambersburg
6.615
16
Dallastown
6.533
17
Central York
6.313
18
Solanco
6.188
19
Harrisburg
6.083
20
Wilson
6.118
21
Cumberland Valley
5.929
22
Penn Manor
5.882
23
Manheim Township
5.812
24
Elizabethtown
5.800
25
Central Dauphin
5.733
26
Southwestern
5.625
27
Warwick
5.438
28
Gettysburg
5.333
29
Ephrata
5.313
30
Waynesboro
5.133
31
Governor Mifflin
5.000
32
Lower Dauphin
4.571
33
Spring Grove
4.529
34
Twin Valley
4.400
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.563

Reading 57 Wilson 42

2008-01-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights continued their perfect season with a big win over Wilson tonight in West Lawn. Here are my thoughts on tonight's game:

The win tonight said a lot about the growth, experience, leadership and toughness of this team. It showed once again we can play at any tempo and be successful. There were a lot of different junctures in this game where past teams would have had problems but this team kept fighting tonight and really got the job done.
Jermaine Jackson had a great game tonight with 15 points and 9 boards. Wilson didn't have any answer for him down low. It is fitting he had his best game against Wilson in what could be his last game against the Bulldogs.
Jordan Burdine led all scorers tonight with 19 points. He played an all around great game and attacked the basket very well.
I love how we got great minutes from the bench tonight. I really believe that when we go to the bench our defense doesn't get worse. I heard some people complaining when they brought Cook into the game. Folks, I think we should stop expecting Cook to be an offensive force out there. He is going to give you toughness, rebounding, and a big body down low. When he was in the game tonight I thought Demrick gave excellent minutes out there.
Memo to the BCIAA: When Reading and Wilson play its a big game so could you please get your 1st team crew to do the game.
For as inconsistent as the officiating was tonight this team doesn't worry about that and they just play through what ever comes their way. Its almost as they let us fans worry about that.
We now will face a talented York High team tomorrow at Harrisburg High. This game will tell us more about this team. The good thing is that they will be coming off a Friday night game as well. I don't think this game took a lot out of the squad but we will truly find out tomorrow what is left in the tank. The best thing for us is playing in the final game tomorrow.
It sounds strange to say but the two toughest games left on our schedule are against teams from York county.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/9

2008-01-09T20:40:00.001-08:00

1
Reading
8.857
2
CD East
8.357
3
Cedar Crest
7.857
4
McCaskey
7.667
5
Red Lion
7.625
6
Red Land
7.500
7
Mechanicsburg
7.467
8
Carlisle
7.357
9
Hempfield
7.286
10
York
7.133
11
Chambersburg
7.091
12
Cedar Cliff
7.071
13
Cocalico
7.063
14
Dallastown
6.786
15
Exeter
6.667
16
Conestoga Valley
6.533
17
Wilson
6.250
18
Central York
6.200
19
Harrisburg
6.083
20
Waynesboro
5.429
21
Penn Manor
6.000
22
Solanco
6.000
23
Elizabethtown
5.929
24
Cumberland Valley
5.692
25
Central Dauphin
5.643
26
Manheim Township
5.600
27
Warwick
5.533
28
Southwestern
5.467
29
Gettysburg
5.429
30
Ephrata
5.400
31
Governor Mifflin
5.077
32
Lower Dauphin
4.692
33
Spring Grove
4.625
34
Twin Valley
4.400
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.600

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/8

2008-01-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.857
2
CD East
8.357
3
Cedar Crest
7.769
4
Red Lion
7.625
5
McCaskey
7.571
6
Red Land
7.500
7
Mechanicsburg
7.467
8
Carlisle
7.357
9
Cocalico
7.267
10
Hempfield
7.154
11
York
7.133
12
Chambersburg
7.091
13
Cedar Cliff
7.071
14
Dallastown
6.786
15
Conestoga Valley
6.714
16
Exeter
6.667
17
Wilson
6.250
18
Central York
6.200
19
Harrisburg
6.083
20
Elizabethtown
6.077
21
Penn Manor
5.800
22
Solanco
5.786
23
Manheim Township
5.714
24
Cumberland Valley
5.692
25
Central Dauphin
5.643
26
Warwick
5.643
27
Southwestern
5.467
28
Gettysburg
5.429
29
Waynesboro
5.231
30
Ephrata
5.143
31
Governor Mifflin
5.077
32
Lower Dauphin
4.692
33
Spring Grove
4.625
34
Twin Valley
4.400
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.600

Reading 99 Governor Mifflin 47

2008-01-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights continued their perfect season with a convincing beatdown of the Governor Mifflin Mustangs at the Intermediate School in Shillington. Here are my thoughts on tonights win:

I loved the way we came out tonight and just took it to them. The 12-0 run to the start the game took Mifflin out of their game plan and really was the beginning of the end. Coach Reyes should get some credit for having the team totally focused on tonight. This was the classic game where most teams would be looking ahead to tougher games the remainder of the week.
Jermain Jackson had a great effort tonight with 16 points and numerous rebounds. He took advantage of the huge size advantage he had inside tonight against a very small Mifflin team. Like I have stated before, get him touches early and he will have a huge game.
Macho continued his outstanding play tonight and along with his 13 points had some great assists as well. You had to love him throwing up the alley oops to Jermaine Jackson.
I must give a big thumbs up to the fans tonight. I love the way we booed the refs relentlessly tonight when they were calling fouls at the end of the game tonight and trying to hold us back from scoring 100 points.
Ive wanted to mention this before but haven't gotten around to this, the one thing that this team has really done this year is taking charges. Charges aren't the most fun or the most exciting thing to do on the defensive end of the court, but they definitely win games.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/7

2008-01-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.846
2
CD East
8.308
3
Cedar Crest
7.000
4
Red Lion
7.769
5
McCaskey
7.571
6
Red Land
7.500
7
Chambersburg
7.400
8
Mechanicsburg
7.357
9
Cedar Cliff
7.308
10
Cocalico
7.267
11
Carlisle
7.231
12
Hempfield
7.154
13
York
7.071
14
Conestoga Valley
6.714
15
Dallastown
6.692
16
Exeter
6.667
17
Central York
6.429
18
Wilson
6.130
19
Central Dauphin
6.077
20
Elizabethtown
6.077
21
Harrisburg
5.909
22
Penn Manor
5.800
23
Solanco
5.786
24
Manheim Township
5.714
25
Southwestern
5.643
26
Warwick
5.643
27
Gettysburg
5.615
28
Cumberland Valley
5.417
29
Waynesboro
5.231
30
Governor Mifflin
5.167
31
Ephrata
5.143
32
Lower Dauphin
4.750
33
Spring Grove
4.733
34
Twin Valley
4.500
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.643

Reading 66 Harrisburg 54

2008-01-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights continued their perfect season tonight with an impressive win over the Harrisburg Cougars tonight at the Geigle. Here are my thoughts on the game:

For the first couple of minutes you could tell we were a bit flat, but once we hit a couple of jumpers and got some steals the sluggishness seemed to wear off.
I thought the big difference in the game tonight was the quality play by Trenity Burdine. He not only hit a couple of three's but he was aggressive and got some key buckets on drives to the hoop and put backs. I really think this kid doesn't really know how good he can be, but to his credit every game he keeps working hard and improving.
Jermain Jackson had his first sub par game offensively in about a month. But give him credit he had a tremendous dunk on an alley-oop. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end. I think a big part of his woes on offense tonight were he didn't get many touches and he was getting pushed off the block by the physical Harrisburg defenders.
Macho led the team with 21 points 8 rebounds and 6 assists. The biggest thing he brought to the game tonight was the aggressiveness that wore off on all of his teammates. This was big, because in my opinion when you play Harrisburg you cant play scared and you have to take the game to them. Because when they get you down they smell blood and will go for the kill.
I think tonight was probably our best effort on the defensive side of the ball. This is the area that we need to keep improving on because we know the offense is going to be there.
Great job by Nelson Leon and Marcus Dawkins on making Quincy Roberts work and really tired him out as the game went on. I think we can all agree that Quincy Roberts is the best opposing player we have seen this year and probably will see in the regular season going forward. Also, Roberts definitely looked to be 100%. Because a guy with a groin pull would not be able to jam with the authority that he did tonight.
Big props go out to the fans tonight for packing the house and creating a huge home court advantage. It was easily the biggest crowd in the last few years. The last time that I saw the Geigle this packed was probably the regular season showdown with Conrad Weiser in January of 2004.
The only thing that really bugged me tonight was how Harrisburg kept their starters on the court at the end of the game to try and make the score look better than it was. What really did they get out of closing the lead to 12?

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/4

2008-01-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.833
2
CD East
8.308
3
Cedar Crest
8.167
4
Red Lion
7.857
5
Carlisle
7.615
6
Cedar Cliff
7.583
7
McCaskey
7.462
8
Chambersburg
7.400
9
Red Land
7.385
10
Mechanicsburg
7.357
11
Cocalico
7.143
12
York
7.077
13
Hempfield
7.000
14
Dallastown
7.000
15
Exeter
6.700
16
Solanco
6.692
17
Central York
6.230
18
Conestoga Valley
6.154
19
Wilson
6.133
20
Harrisburg
6.100
21
Penn Manor
5.929
22
Central Dauphin
5.917
23
Manheim Township
5.846
24
Elizabethtown
5.833
25
Southwestern
5.643
26
Gettysburg
5.615
27
Waynesboro
5.500
28
Warwick
5.500
29
Cumberland Valley
5.417
30
Ephrata
5.417
31
Spring Grove
5.286
32
Governor Mifflin
4.900
33
Lower Dauphin
4.818
34
Twin Valley
4.308
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.462

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 1/2

2008-01-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.833
2
CD East
8.750
3
Cedar Crest
8.545
4
Carlisle
7.917
5
Red Lion
7.769
6
Red Land
7.750
7
Cedar Cliff
7.455
8
McCaskey
7.333
9
Mechanicsburg
7.308
10
Chambersburg
7.222
11
Exeter
7.111
12
Cocalico
7.000
13
York
6.917
14
Solanco
6.917
15
Hempfield
6.818
16
Dallastown
6.818
17
Central York
6.417
18
Harrisburg
6.333
19
Conestoga Valley
6.333
20
Manheim Township
6.000
21
Wilson
5.929
22
Southwestern
5.769
23
Penn Manor
5.692
24
Central Dauphin
5.636
25
Warwick
5.636
26
Cumberland Valley
5.545
27
Elizabethtown
5.545
28
Waynesboro
5.455
29
Spring Grove
5.385
30
Gettysburg
5.333
31
Ephrata
5.091
32
Governor Mifflin
5.000
33
Lower Dauphin
4.900
34
Twin Valley
4.417
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.583

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/29

2007-12-30T18:53:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.833
2
CD East
8.750
3
Cedar Crest
8.500
4
Carlisle
7.818
5
Mechanicsburg
7.750
6
Red Lion
7.667
7
Red Land
7.636
8
Cedar Cliff
7.300
9
Cocalico
7.250
10
York
7.182
11
McCaskey
7.182
12
Exeter
7.111
13
Hempfield
7.100
14
Solanco
6.727
15
Harrisburg
6.625
16
Dallastown
6.600
17
Conestoga Valley
6.545
18
Chambersburg
6.333
19
Central York
6.182
20
Wilson
6.077
21
Southwestern
5.917
22
Penn Manor
5.833
23
Central Dauphin
5.800
24
Cumberland Valley
5.800
25
Warwick
5.800
26
Manheim Township
5.727
27
Waynesboro
5.200
28
Elizabethtown
5.200
29
Gettysburg
5.091
30
Spring Grove
5.083
31
Lower Dauphin
5.000
32
Governor Mifflin
5.000
33
Ephrata
4.750
34
Twin Valley
4.417
35
Garden Spot
4.000
36
York Vo-Tech
3.636

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/28

2007-12-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.833
2
CD East
8.750
3
Cedar Crest
8.500
4
Carlisle
7.800
5
Mechanicsburg
7.727
6
Red Lion
7.636
7
Red Land
7.636
8
Cedar Cliff
7.300
9
Cocalico
7.250
10
York
7.182
11
McCaskey
7.182
12
Hempfield
7.100
13
Exeter
7.000
14
Solanco
6.727
15
Harrisburg
6.625
16
Dallastown
6.600
17
Conestoga Valley
6.545
18
Chambersburg
6.333
19
Central York
6.182
20
Central Dauphin
6.111
21
Wilson
6.077
22
Southwestern
5.917
23
Penn Manor
5.833
24
Warwick
5.800
25
Manheim Township
5.727
26
Cumberland Valley
5.444
27
Waynesboro
5.200
28
Elizabethtown
5.200
29
Gettysburg
5.091
30
Lower Dauphin
5.000
31
Governor Mifflin
5.000
32
Spring Grove
4.909
33
Ephrata
4.750
34
Twin Valley
4.417
35
Garden Spot
4.100
36
York Vo-Tech
3.636

Reading 86 Upper Darby 37

2007-12-29T07:04:00.002-08:00

The Reading Red Knights captured the championship of the Reading Holiday Tournament with a very impressive victory over the Royals of Upper Darby. Here are my thoughts on the win:

I loved the way the team came out and from the start they let Upper Darby know they had no chance and completely took their will away. The one thing I really like about this team is that they really play hard every game but when they are playing a quality opponent they seem to turn it up an extra notch.
Jordan Burdine won tournament MVP with another strong effort. It seemed last night that whenever he wanted he could score.
The one thing I really took notice to tonight is that when we go to our bench we really pick up the defensive intensity. If we want to get to the promised land we will need to continue to see improvement from our bench.
I think with the week off you will see the coaching staff stress the fundamentals with this team on the week off. Also, I think it might be a good stretch to get Demrick Cook's confidence back. I still think he will make a big contribution to this team as the year goes on.
It was great to just walk around the concourse and hear all the fans talk about this team. There was a real buzz in the air and if their was a buzz in the air tonight just imagine what it will be like next Saturday evening.
As we look towards the second half of the season the schedule does get tougher but its not a daunting schedule. But I think the week off will help us more than it will hurt us. I know we would like to keep playing while were clicking on all cylinders. But with our schedule the rest of this month we are playing 3 games a week in most weeks so a full week of practice time is something that a lot of teams wont get at this point in the season.

Reading 90 Allentown Central Catholic 62

2007-12-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

The Reading Red Knights improved to 11-0 on the season with a solid victory over the Vikings of Allentown Central Catholic on Thursday night in the opening round of the Reading Holiday Tournament at the Geigle Complex. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Jordan Burdine led the way tonight with 34 points. He is well on his way to being tournament MVP. He seems to have gotten out of his shooting funk. I also think when this team is in a close game he will be the go to guy when we need points.
Jermain Jackson also had a solid game tonight. He wasn't spectacular, but worked hard on the glass and had a really tough match up in the rotund center Carlos Pujols of ACC.
Macho had another good game running the point. He was very successful in maneuvering his way into the paint and getting layups against the ACC 2-3 zone. The Internet rumor that he wouldn't be there cause he was attending to a wedding was a Pennlive hoax just like the rumor that Jaren Burdine wouldn't play for a couple weeks while resting his ankle.
I really like how we have picked up the intensity on the defensive end of the court. While we have given up some rebounding presence with putting Nelson Leon in the starting lineup, we have increased our foot speed on defense. Also, I have heard a few people complain that we are giving up too many three pointers. When your constructing a defense you cant take away everything and I like the strategy since the three point shot is a low percentage shot. With the tempo we play at and as the game proceeds into the second half those long jumpers come up short and our like the outlet pass to our fast break.
We now will play Upper Darby tomorrow night. I know they are not as talented as they were last year, but this is a team we cant take for granted. They are 6-5 on the young season but you know they believe they can beat us after beating us the last two years in the holiday tournament and are going to come on the court a very confident team.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/22

2007-12-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.900
2
CD East
8.800
3
Cedar Crest
8.625
4
Mechanicsburg
7.700
5
Carlisle
7.667
6
Red Lion
7.500
7
Cedar Cliff
7.500
8
Cocalico
7.400
9
McCaskey
7.333
10
Red Land
7.333
11
Harrisburg
7.286
12
Hempfield
7.000
13
York
6.889
14
Solanco
6.889
15
Exeter
6.667
16
Conestoga Valley
6.556
17
Wilson
6.545
18
Chambersburg
6.500
19
Central Dauphin
6.375
20
Dallastown
6.333
21
Central York
6.333
22
Manheim Township
6.222
23
Penn Manor
6.200
24
Southwestern
5.800
25
Waynesboro
5.500
26
Cumberland Valley
5.445
27
Warwick
5.125
28
Spring Grove
5.100
29
Lower Dauphin
5.000
30
Ephrata
4.875
31
Elizabethtown
4.875
32
Gettysburg
4.778
33
Governor Mifflin
4.714
34
Twin Valley
4.400
35
Garden Spot
4.111
36
York Vo-Tech
3.778

Reading 60 Owen J. Roberts 39

2007-12-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

The Red Knights improved to 10-0 with a workmanlike win tonight against the Wildcats of Owen J. Roberts. Here are my thoughts on the game:

We really played flat for long periods of time tonight but I was very happy to see the defense play solid basketball. We didn't give up many layups and the numerous three pointers we allowed them to shoot were like an outlet pass for our fast break.
Tonight pointed out once again how much better and more comfortable Jermaine Jackson is on offense when he gets the ball on the lower block. Also, when teams converge on defense it also opens open jumpers for our guards.
Again tonight great balanced scoring. This I feel like is what sets us apart from other teams we don't rely on one or two players. We have about five or six guys who can go for 15-20 a night.
It was good to see us get a win tonight convincingly when we clearly didn't have a ton of energy and weren't running our offense that well.
Marcus Dawkins played about 10 minutes tonight and was OK but not as good as last night. I think it is easy to see though that is shot is the corner 3. He will continue to improve and really is an X factor for this team to get to that next level.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/21

2007-12-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
8.889
2
CD East
8.800
3
Cedar Crest
8.625
4
Carlisle
7.667
5
Mechanicsburg
7.556
6
Cedar Cliff
7.500
7
Cocalico
7.400
8
Hempfield
7.375
9
York
7.375
10
McCaskey
7.333
11
Red Lion
7.333
12
Harrisburg
7.286
13
Red Land
7.250
14
Chambersburg
7.000
15
Solanco
6.889
16
Exeter
6.667
17
Conestoga Valley
6.556
18
Central Dauphin
6.375
19
Dallastown
6.333
20
Central York
6.333
21
Wilson
6.300
22
Manheim Township
6.222
23
Southwestern
6.222
24
Penn Manor
6.200
25
Waynesboro
5.500
26
Cumberland Valley
5.445
27
Lower Dauphin
5.250
28
Warwick
5.125
29
Spring Grove
5.100
30
Gettysburg
5.000
31
Ephrata
4.875
32
Elizabethtown
4.875
33
Twin Valley
4.400
34
Governor Mifflin
4.333
35
Garden Spot
4.111
36
York Vo-Tech
3.778

Reading 75 Exeter 45

2007-12-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

The Red Knights improved to 9-0 last night with another impressive victory. Here are my thoughts on the game:

I loved the way we came out tonight and just attacked from the start. When we are aggressive and push the tempo we are a great team. I know some people will say its only beating Exeter, but they came in full of momentum after a big win over Wilson on Tuesday.
Trenity Burdine had another great game last night. I was impressed with how he saw his jumper wasn't falling, but then even got more aggressive with taking the ball to the hole. Trenity seems to improve game by game. He has easily been the biggest surprise this year.
Jermaine Jackson continued his strong play. I love how Coach Reyes has moved him to the center spot and gotten him down low on the block where his offensive game can really flourish. Like I mentioned a few weeks ago when you can get Jermaine touches early it really gets him going on the offensive end.
Last night it was great to see the training wheels were taken off and Marcus Dawkins got to play quality minutes. It is rare that you see a freshman who is as skilled on the defensive side of the ball as the offensive side. He makes this easily the most balanced Reading team in recent memory. With Marcus I think we just have to keep giving him 10 to 15 minutes a game and let him just keep getting better because the sky is the limit with this kid.
Tonight's game against O.J Roberts will tell us something about the maturity of this team. You have to think in the back of the players mind that they already have their eyes on that January 5 match up with Harrisburg.
When you look at the rest of our schedule I really think you can say we will be favored in every game in the regular season, even the Harrisburg game.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/20

2007-12-20T20:39:00.001-08:00

1
Reading
8.875
2
CD East
8.778
3
Cedar Crest
8.571
4
Carlisle
7.625
5
Mechanicsburg
7.500
6
Cedar Cliff
7.429
7
Cocalico
7.222
8
Exeter
7.200
9
Hempfield
7.143
10
York
7.143
11
Red Land
7.143
12
McCaskey
7.125
13
Red Lion
7.125
14
Chambersburg
7.000
15
Harrisburg
7.000
16
Central Dauphin
6.714
17
Central York
6.625
18
Solanco
6.625
19
Manheim Township
6.500
20
Southwestern
6.500
21
Penn Manor
6.444
22
Wilson
6.300
23
Conestoga Valley
6.250
24
Dallastown
6.000
25
Waynesboro
5.857
26
Cumberland Valley
5.625
27
Lower Dauphin
5.571
28
Gettysburg
5.286
29
Warwick
5.286
30
Spring Grove
5.222
31
Ephrata
5.000
32
Elizabethtown
5.000
33
Twin Valley
4.555
34
Governor Mifflin
4.333
35
Garden Spot
4.125
36
York Vo-Tech
3.375

Reading 88 Conrad Weiser 52

2007-12-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights improved to 8-0 with a victory tonight over the Scouts of Conrad Weiser. Here are my thoughts on the game:

We really came out flat against Weiser tonight. Defensively, we really only played well for a quarter, which was the second. We gave up way too many easy baskets against a team who had no size.
The best sign from tonight's game was Jordan Burdine got his three point shot back. When he got going tonight, especially from the outside it opened up some shots for Trenity Burdine and then some big holes in the middle of defense opened up for Macho to attack the basket.
Jermain Jackson continues to play well after a slow start. The one part of his game that has been improving his being able to hit some jumpers after moves with his back to the basket.
I know we have another 30 point victory tonight but we still have a long way to go defensively before we can be considered a legitimate contender for a state title. But with that being said, when we make perimeter jump shots like we did tonight we are a very difficult team to beat.
Marcus Dawkins made his long awaited varsity debut tonight in garbage time. I think we need to keep getting his feet wet and get him acclimated to the speed of varsity basketball. I know he has immense talent offensively but he will really improve us defensively, as he is a shot blocking threat and is a great rebounder.
With Exeter big win over Wilson tonight they will come into Friday's game with a ton of confidence. I did get to see this Exeter team beat Cocalico and they have more talent than any Exeter team from the past few years. We have to come ready to play and more focused than we were tonight. The keys to the game for me are getting Jordan Burdine going cause he has killed Exeter routinely in the past. The other key is getting this into a high speed up tempo game.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/15

2007-12-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
9.000
2
CD East
8.750
3
Cedar Crest
8.400
4
Cedar Cliff
8.000
5
Chambersburg
7.750
6
Harrisburg
7.500
7
Mechanicsburg
7.429
8
Carlisle
7.429
9
Hempfield
7.400
10
Central York
7.000
11
Red Land
7.000
12
Wilson
6.875
13
Red Lion
6.857
14
Exeter
6.750
15
Cocalico
6.714
16
Solanco
6.667
17
York
6.600
18
McCaskey
6.500
19
Central Dauphin
6.500
20
Penn Manor
6.429
21
Dallastown
6.286
22
Conestoga Valley
6.167
23
Southwestern
6.143
24
Warwick
5.800
25
Gettysburg
5.667
26
Manheim Township
5.667
27
Cumberland Valley
5.625
28
Lower Dauphin
5.571
29
Ephrata
5.400
30
Elizabethtown
5.400
31
Spring Grove
5.375
32
Waynesboro
5.000
33
Twin Valley
4.750
34
Garden Spot
4.167
35
Governor Mifflin
3.600
36
York Vo-Tech
2.833

Reading 64 Boyertown 33

2007-12-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Reading High Red Knights improved to 7-0 with their blowout victory over Boyertown in the opening game of Saturday's Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Sovereign Center in downtown Reading. Here are my thoughts on the game:

I really liked how we came out against Boyertown and played with great intensity on the defensive side of the ball. With the way we played early on it let Boyertown know they had no chance right from the start.
I heard some people complain that we gave up way too many outside shots. When you create a defense you cant take everything away from a team. I like the strategy of making teams make outside jumpers since its a low percentage shot and a lot of times the long rebounds are like an outlet pass for our potent fast break.
I really think we need to take a strong look at getting Jordan Burdine some rest for his bum ankle. Ever since he hurt the ankle his outside shot hasn't been there. We need him at full strength once we get to the month of January.
Trenity Burdine had another strong game yesterday. The one thing I really like that Burdine gives us his some length on defense when we go to the 1-2-2 zone. He is another guy who gives teams matchup problems.
Hats off to the city of Reading for putting on a great event for a good cause. I know the attendance of approximately 2500 was on the lower end but still nice to see the powers to be in the city of Reading put their heads together and hopefully for years to come this can be an event we all look forward to. In the coming years I think it would be a good idea to play a team that has a decent following that can bring more people into the city to see a great facility.
This upcoming week will tell us a lot about this team. If we can go out and really take care of business this week it will show what we have thought about this team that they have really grown up.
On the power ratings for the district after Tuesday we will vacate the top spot if CD East wins their game on Tuesday but if we can go 3-0 this week we should get the top spot back after Saturday.

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/14

2007-12-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
9.000
2
CD East
8.750
3
Cedar Crest
8.400
4
Cedar Cliff
8.000
5
Chambersburg
7.750
6
Harrisburg
7.500
7
Mechanicsburg
7.429
8
Hempfield
7.400
9
Carlisle
7.167
10
Central York
7.000
11
Red Land
7.000
12
Penn Manor
6.833
13
Exeter
6.750
14
Cocalico
6.714
15
Solanco
6.667
16
York
6.600
17
Wilson
6.571
18
McCaskey
6.500
19
Central Dauphin
6.500
20
Red Lion
6.500
21
Dallastown
6.286
22
Conestoga Valley
6.167
23
Southwestern
6.143
24
Manheim Township
6.000
25
Warwick
5.800
26
Ephrata
5.750
27
Spring Grove
5.714
28
Gettysburg
5.667
29
Cumberland Valley
5.625
30
Lower Dauphin
5.571
31
Elizabethtown
5.400
32
Waynesboro
5.000
33
Twin Valley
4.286
34
Garden Spot
4.167
35
Governor Mifflin
3.600
36
York Vo-Tech
2.833

District 3 AAAA Rankings as of 12/12

2007-12-12T20:57:00.001-08:00

1
Reading
9.000
2
CD East
8.714
3
Harrisburg
8.666
4
Cedar Crest
8.250
5
Mechanicsburg
8.000
6
Cedar Cliff
7.750
7
Penn Manor
7.400
8
Chambersburg
7.333
9
Solanco
7.200
10
Hempfield
7.000
11
Central Dauphin
7.000
12
Red Lion
7.000
13
Red Land
6.800
14
Carlisle
6.800
15
Dallastown
6.666
16
Central York
6.666
17
Exeter
6.666
18
Conestoga Valley
6.600
19
Wilson
6.571
20
Manheim Township
6.500
21
Cocalico
6.333
22
Gettysburg
6.200
23
McCaskey
6.000
24
York
6.000
25
Spring Grove
6.000
26
Cumberland Valley
5.857
27
Elizabethtown
5.750
28
Southwestern
5.666
29
Lower Dauphin
5.166
30
Governor Mifflin
5.000
31
Warwick
5.000
32
Waynesboro
5.000
33
Twin Valley
4.666
34
Ephrata
4.666
35
Garden Spot
4.200
36
York Vo-Tech
3.000

District 3 Rankings as of 12/11

2007-12-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

1
Reading
9.000
2
CD East
8.833
3
Harrisburg
8.500
4
Cedar Crest
8.250
5
Central Dauphin
7.750
6
Red Land
7.750
7
Penn Manor
7.400
8
Chambersburg
7.333
9
Cedar Cliff
7.333
10
Solanco
7.200
11
Hempfield
7.000
12
Red Lion
7.000
13
Carlisle
6.800
14
Gettysburg
6.750
15
Dallastown
6.666
16
Central York
6.666
17
Exeter
6.666
18
Manheim Township
6.500
19
Mechanicsburg
6.500
20
Cocalico
6.333
21
Wilson
6.333
22
Conestoga Valley
6.250
23
Cumberland Valley
6.166
24
McCaskey
6.000
25
York
6.000
26
Spring Grove
6.000
27
Waynesboro
6.000
28
Elizabethtown
5.750
29
Southwestern
5.666
30
Lower Dauphin
5.600
31
Governor Mifflin
5.000
32
Warwick
5.000
33
Twin Valley
4.666
34
Ephrata
4.666
35
Garden Spot
4.200
36
York Vo-Tech
3.000

Reading 53 Academy Park 52

2007-12-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

The Red Knights improved to 6-0 after a heartstopping victory against Academy Park in Sharon Hill, PA. Here are my thoughts on the game:

Let me first get to the comments of a few after last night's game. I did not hear Reyes use any vulgarity towards the team at the end of the game but Im not saying in any way that he didnt use any. But I think like numerous other people have said every coach we have ever had has used vulgar language at time to time. But I can understand why he wanted to get the players off the court because you could see Academy Park was really upset about losing on their home court and I dont think Coach Reyes wanted to upset them even more by us celebrating in an over the top manner on their court. I know some might say who cares since they aren't a District 3 school, but I think it still is very possible you could see them in late February or March in the State playoffs. I also think he didnt think it was really right to be celebrating a lot in a game we could have very easily lost.
Im not aware of the having Cook come off the bench situation was a discliplinary measure or just a coaching decision. But I did take notice that when we had the starting lineup which in all likelihood is a four guard lineup spaces the floor out nicely and it also seems to get Jermain Jackson the ball in better spots. I still do value Cook has a very important part of the team and I think you will see him get a lot of minutes.
If you want to have a special season you are going to need games where unexpected guys come up big and that is what we got from Nelson Leon last night.
The best thing to come from this game was that we didnt play our A or even B game and found a way to squeak out a win.
I think a thing to watch for now is that with three days of practice before our next game hopefully we can really get down to work and improve our defense. I thought last night it was better but still not at a great level.
The other thing last night showed is that we could have problems as the year goes on if we become too reliant on the three point shot. Which is why we need the inside post offense to get better.
I know on the stat sheet Jermain Jackson had only 11 points but I thought the last two games his play has improved and it is nice to see that he responded to the crititcism that many including me gave him after the Wilson game.
I will have updated District 3 AAAA power rankings throught last night;s game posted on my blog later tonight.

Reading 101 McCaskey 78

2007-12-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

The Red Knights continued their hot start to the season with a very impressive victory tonight at the Geigle over JP McCaskey. Here are my thoughts on the game:

The game tonight was plain and simple a statement game. This was a statement to the rest of District 3 that the Red Knights will be a major player. It told a lot about this team that they brought this kind of performance after a tough game against Wilson.
The player of the game tonight has to go to Macho. He continues to play with the heart of a champion and gives this team the swagger that they need. He has it in his mind that when he attacks the basket he wont be denied. Plus his mid range jumper has improved by leaps and bounds.
I was one of many who called out Jermain Jackson out for his sub par play in the first four games, but he came up with a strong effort in scoring 16 points in limited time since he got in foul trouble. Tonight just proves how unstoppable our offense can be when Jackson comes to play and is a force on offense.
Jordan and Trenity Burdine both had solid efforts again tonight. It seems that at times when we have needed it Jordan just goes on stretches where he scores 6 or 8 points in a row or hits a couple of three's in a short stretch and it seems to really be deflating to the opponent.
On the defensive side of the ball I thought we came out really aggressive and played good defense in the first half but the second half we fell back into the same mode we did in previous games and let them get easy layups. When we got our big lead in the first half a lot of the easy buckets were off long rebounds from missed McCaskey three point shots.
I don't know which was more surprising tonight, the offensive output against a quality McCaskey team or that McCaskey coach Steve Powell didn't have another sweater out of the Cliff Huxtable collection. All kidding aside Coach Powell is a class act and was nice to see him looking great. It really seemed like he dropped some pounds too.
Also tonight a wonderful national anthem was sung by the young lady. I hope this is the first of many times that she sings before our games.
With the win tonight we really have a great shot to go into the holiday tournament with a perfect record, but lets take things one game at a time.
Even after the impressive win tonight the thing we must remember it is still December and the regular season is only two weeks old. Things can change in a hurry.
Weather permitting I will be heading up to the Academy Park game on Tuesday, hope to see the rest of you there.

Reading 57 Wilson 50

2007-12-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

The Red Knights returned home with a tough division win over Wilson tonight at the Geigle. Here are my thoughts on tonight's game:

I must say that I never thought this game would be a blowout like some fans suggested. A defending champ with three starters back isn't going to roll over and die. When people look at Wilson the thing people fail to give them credit on is how good of a defensive club they are.
I see the typical Reyes bashing is on the Pennlive board as the game ends. The only problem I had tonight was the zone defense coming back from the half. He deserves credit for beating Wilson in a half court game.
The other thing that I disagree with some is about the officiating tonight. I really didn't have a problem with it, I didn't see either team really gain a big advantage, and lets face it when your playing Wilson there wont be a lot of calls on either side. The Red Knight players didn't seem to worry about the officiating in this game so as fans I think we should do the same.
I want to first off state that I think Jermaine Jackson is a great kid and a immense talent. But he needs to take the bull by the horns and be more aggressive. If we can get him to be more aggressive he will be a better player. The two things in his game that I think that are working against him is that when he doesn't get the touches early he seems to get out of sync. The other thing is when he gets the ball he waits and composes himself before making a move and it lets the opponents defense get set. When he puts it together he makes this team a state title contender. With the balance this team has he really shouldn't feel as much pressure this year as well. With all this being said I don't think it is time to get down on the kid.
The run at the end of the second quarter and the run at the start of the 4th quarter is what one the game tonight for us.
I truly feel like Macho is really becoming the inspirational leader of this team. The kid has no fear and that kind of attitude is infectious. When I watch him play the point he plays it in the mode of a Tony Parker type point guard.
Tonight's game was another indication of how good of a player Jordan Burdine is. He can get his own shot whenever he wants to and he has a total all around game that he can always seem to go for 20 points a night.
Another great performance by Trenity Burdine tonight who chipped in 12 points. This kid gets better every game and his confidence his rising minute by minute.
The one thing that must improve after the first four games is our defense and especially our defense around the basket. We had way too many mental breakdowns and gave up a lot of easy layups. When you look back at this game Wilson took very few outside shots. When we play them again later on in the year we have to get the defense around the rim cleaned up and force them to take outside jumpers.
As we look again we will play another heavyweight in McCaskey who comes in on Saturday after losing two straight to Norristown and Chester. But Steve Powell's gang of Red Tornadoes will come in hungry and we better come out stronger than we did tonight.

Reading 76 Coatesville 59

2007-12-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

The following are my thoughts

on last night's win over Coatesville:

I had a feeling going into this game that we would see a different Coatesville team than we have seen in the past. Just had the feeling with a new coach and playing their home opener they would come out full of emotion and they definitely were.
The one thing that we need to really improve on is our defense and especially rebounds. Early on we have given up way too many offensive rebounds.
For most of the game the officiating really took us out of our game. But the senior leadership on this team really showed when they didnt panic down 8 points in the second quarter. In the past this game could have gotten away from us, but this team wasnt going to let that happen.
The biggest surprise to me in the first few games of the season is the play of Trenity Burdine. I think the biggest thing for him in his development was last year sending him down to play in JV games and got his confidence back and has come into this year a totally different player.
The other thing that was good to see about last night's game was how the players didnt let the inconsistant officiating affect them during the game.
After three games this year we have made 26 three pointers. I know its against some subpar competition but this is one thing I didnt expect from this team. I thought Burdine would make his fair share of them but not as many from the whole team.
You have to think we are playing Wilson at the right time. After they lost to a decent Cocalico team in West Lawn last night. But you know they are going to try and make it a half court game and keep the score in the 40's. But I think more than ever we are fully capable of beating them in a half court setting. The biggest thing in this game is to keep Cook out of foul trouble.

Reading 96 Conestoga Valley 46

2007-12-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

The Red Knights improved their record to 2-0 on the season with another impressive victory tonight at the Geigle over the Conestoga Valley Buckskins. Here are my thoughts on tonight's win:

Congratulations to Jordan Burdine for collecting his 1000 points. Burdine didnt have as dominating a game as he did against Dieruff but he did do a good job of getting his teammates involved.
Trenity Burdine had a great night tonight hitting numerous three pointers from the field and also did a good job of getting some rebounds on defense. I know I questioned his game at the start of the season, but if the more he contributes the better we will be as a team. Especially, if he can hit that long range jumper since we will see lots of zone defenses this year.
I really do think it is hard to tell how good we are after these first two games against average talent.
I do love the way the last two nights we have come out in attack mode and went for the jugular early. When you get a 10 point lead on a team early they tend to pack it in.
I think we will see at least a little better competition on Tuesday night in Coatesville. They did lose tonight to Mccaskey 64-49. Coatesville has not been what they once were in the last few years, but you know with a new coach they are going to come hard on Tuesday night in front of their home fans.

Below is a video of the pictures that I took tonight at the game.

Reading 70 Dieruff 46

2007-11-30T20:33:00.000-08:00

A great opening night win for the Red Knights in front of an excellent crowd at the Geigle. Here are my thoughts on tonight's game:

Great to see Jordan Burdine back wearing the Red Knight colors, it was as he had not left. You can see that he is probably even becoming our number 1 scoring option which i didnt expect. He now needs three more points to reach 1000 for his career which he should get tommorrow night against Conestoga Valley.
Jermain Jackson had a consistant and solid night tonight. While he didnt have a lot of points you can see the maturity in his game coming through.
It was clear to see tonight that Cook is a beast on the boards and when he is in the lineup this team is a lot better. The key for him will be keeping him out of foul trouble and not having him pick up silly fouls.
Give credit to Coach Reyes he really had the team fired up at the start of the game and they let Dieruff know that the game was over in the first quarter.
My last point is to give big props to acting Athletic Director Pat Slator for having new lights installed in the gym and replacing the ceiling tiles. By the way, when is the administration going to give this guy the full time gig. He has the student athletes interest on the top of his agenda and it was nice to see the game run smoothly from a fan standpoint and Mr. Slator deserves big props for this.

The below video is a collection of the picutures I took at the game.

Season Preview

2007-11-30T13:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome Back Friends. I am back blogging as the opening of the season is upon us. As we enter the season I look at this year’s edition of the Red Knights as a team that has a lot of potential and promise. I will give a summary of what I expect to see out of the contributing players in our lineup.

Jermaine Jackson: I expect big things out of Jackson this year. He got the college decision out of the way and can fully concentrate on his senior year. I think you will see him take on a leadership role as this year develops. In the postseason you could see him start to do this. I think you will also see someone who is very driven to bring home some hardware to the castle on the hill, because lets face facts this is his team and he is the face of the 2007-2008 edition of the Red Knights. I still think he will score in the 15 point per game range but he will be the guy this team leans on when the team is in need of points in a close game.

Jordan Burdine: To me Burdine is the most talked about and exciting part to the team this year. I think the year away from Reading will help him as a person and as a player. A lot of times with high school kids they need an eye opening experience to help them grow up. As a player I think he will be an upgrade over Lawson in that he isn’t just a shooter and he has the talent to become one of the better shooting guards in recent Red Knights history. I expect him to average in the 15 ppg range. But I think it will take him a few games to get totally comfortable with his new teammates, but it is good that he did get to play with them over the summer and in the scrimmages as well.

Nelson Leon: Leon was one of the bigger surprises from last year’s squad. He is a nice complimentary piece to this team. He seems to excel being the third or fourth option on team. He has the talent to be a number 2 option on a less talented team but what makes him great is that he is fundamentally sound and rarely makes a careless mistake on the court. Also, if you’re going to be a championship team you need players like Nelson Leon.

Justin Rodriquez: The vocal leader of the team. I love the confidence this kid plays with and really gives the squad a swagger. He needs to improve on his jump shot to become a great player. But with that being said he has no fear which helps make him the player that he is.

Demrick Cook: Cook is the best rebounder on the team and when he is on the court we are a totally different team. The big thing with Cook is to keep him on the floor and out of foul trouble. Cook is coming off a good football season where he was a first team Lancaster Lebanon League selection on the defensive line. So hopefully this can catapult him into a solid season on the hardwood.

Trenity Burdine: Burdine has a lot of potential and great size. I believe he needs to become more forceful on the court. At times last year he look lost and felt at the beginning he was rushed into playing time. Hopefully he will continue to develop and improve as the season goes along.

Gaston: I do apologize for not knowing his first name. I believe Gaston could me a very intriguing player who can play 3 different positions and give match up problems to the opposition. I think he could make himself into a very good player. When he saw varsity time last year the thing that stood out was his excellent defensive play. I see Gaston as a defensive stopper who you put on a team’s best perimeter player.

Marcus Dawkins: Dawkins is this year’s player who will start on the JV squad but push for varsity time. From all reports the kid has great talent and will be a valuable asset when he gets action on the varsity level.

Tonight’s opener against Allentown Dieruff is a game where we should go in as a clear favorite. We did beat them last year 65-51.and they did finish with a 12-14 record. Hopefully this is a game where we can get a lot of people some varsity playing time in the first game of the year and with us playing three games in the first five days of the season and 5 games in the first 9 days of the season.

I will be back after the game to give my summary on tonight’s game as well; I will this year be taking pictures with my new digital camera and be uploading them tonight on here. As always I love your comments and questions. I promise to answer email within that same day.

Prediction for tonight
Reading 70
Dieruff 51

Sincerely yours,
Tom Schlegel