Reading 61 York 47

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. I will be back tommorrow with my preview on the ETown game.