City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's "Prepping for Preps," our series of articles previewing area high school teams for the 2015-16 season. For the complete list of schools previewed so far, click here)

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READING — Isiah Cook can log mile after mile, hoist as much iron as possible and even shoot dozens of free throws — day after day — yet even when the Reading junior is at a full boil and sweating profusely one indelible memory keeps replaying in his memory banks over and over and over again.

He’s not alone.

Each and every one of Rick Perez’s Red Knights who were involved in last season’s season-ending 61-59 loss to Pennridge — directly or tangentially — continues to feel the sting of a setback that, in their minds, wasn’t supposed to happen.

The fact that Reading led the PIAA Class AAAA opening-round scrap 59-53 with less than two minutes showing on the scoreboard clock causes those recurring pains to return all too frequently and linger even longer.

No wonder Perez’s Red Knights are busy lifting, running, trying to improve their skill sets and playing pickup games several times a week — several weeks before preseason practice begins. They’re determined to get better.

They’re also determined to erase those lasting memories in front of a basketball-crazy city that annually sports mighty high expectations for “The R.”

“I feel like [the sting from that loss] makes you stronger because the pain that was there that we felt that night it makes us want to be better,” said Cook, a 6-1 junior who was the Knights’ sixth man last season. “It didn’t break us down. We all stuck together and we stood collectively. We build off of that every day.

“I still think about it to this day.”

“We realize how much more we need to improve,” added 5-11 senior Wynton “Scotty” Butler, a reserve guard a season ago. “So in the weight room, we know the level that we need to be at and we need to achieve even higher than that. We just have to keep fighting, keep motivating each other and stick together. “

And with a challenging schedule assembled that features plenty of Pennsylvania hammers — even several from beyond the Keystone State’s borders — a Reading squad that returns several starters from a 24-6 club will need to be ready to go each and every time it pulls on its jerseys and knots up its sneakers.

Need a non-league sampling?

Williamsport, Coatesville, Archbishop Wood, Chester and McCaskey are definites. Williamsport, in fact, will be the Knights’ season-opening adversary.

York, Mount Vernon (N.Y.), Conestoga, Martin Luther King and possibly Plymouth-Whitemarsh also could be on the other bench when the ball goes up.

Since the Knights motored through Berks I play with a perfect 10-0 mark, schools such as Wilson, Exeter and Governor Mifflin will be angling, too.

All of those games will have Reading prepared to defend the Berks County championship it captured last season — one of many positives the Red Knights tucked away — and whatever awaits the Knights after that.

“Pennsylvania’s going to be tough,” Perez said cautiously. “There’s a lot of teams out there with high expectations, but we just have to worry about us every day. The season’s very long and it’s all about who keeps getting better every day.”

“That’s what we want,” Cook added. “If we feel like the best, we’ve got to play the best. So, we’ve got to prove ourselves.”

While opposing game plans undoubtedly will be predicated on stopping 6-5 junior Lonnie Walker IV — just trying to slow down one of the nation’s top juniors will be difficult enough — seniors Khary Mauras and Damon Stern round out what should be a terrific backcourt with loads of talent and experience.

A second-team Class AAAA all-state selection last season, Walker paced the Red Knights by scoring at a 17.0 points per game clip. The 6-1 Mauras checked in at 12.1 ppg, while the 5-11 Stern finished up at just under nine points per.

“Our expectation is more character-wise, more of your work ethic,” Perez said. “There are some intangibles that we feel need to be done better. On paper, we look great. Our guard play is outstanding, but our big situation and who is going to fill in [is still a question mark]. We have two potentials that have been very committed to filling that void, because Justin Kellman and Tyree Gibson brought major attitude to our frontcourt and we’re going to miss that.

“There’s some things defensively that Justin Kellman could do that there’s not many people out there that can duplicate it,” added Perez, who is entering his fifth season in charge. “He could switch, he was an excellent hedger and an excellent rebounder. The way he helped and played off the ball was absolutely amazing.”

Cook, who averaged just over four points per outing, could be in store for a much-larger role than he played a season ago. The same could hold for Butler (1.6) and 6-3 classmate Keyon McCutchen (3.2) — and several other promising youngsters.

Preseason practice is still a few weeks away, so stay tuned.

Since Walker and his multi-tooled repertoire is coveted by major college programs from coast to coast — Villanova, Ohio State, Indiana, Stanford, Oregon, UCLA and others have offered — Perez knows he has a special player in his program packing all the necessary tangible skills.

Not to mention plenty of intangibles.

“He has a wide array of talents and he’s a great young man — so that makes everything even better,” Perez remarked. “What he does off the stat sheet is amazing. He’s a very good passer. He can defend pretty well. He’s a good rebounder. What we need from him is beyond that.

“Just the way he models hard work,” Perez continued. “His commitment to our program is very important to our team’s success. What we’re trying to say is we’re much bigger than just Lonnie. This is Reading High basketball and that’s bigger than any one person — but his contributions and his commitment to the program have been amazing. To see him grow in this program and the loyalty he’s had have been amazing. That speaks volumes because his teammates see his commitment.

“He’s a busy young man and he’s all over the place and he still finds time to make sure that home is taken care of.”

Home, in this case, is “The R.”

All of the Red Knights, even after all of last season’s highs and lows, feel that way about the perennially strong program they front.

That’s why they’re so determined — especially the way last season ended.

“I like to keep that in the back of my mind because that was a heartbreaking night,” Cook revealed. “We really lost that game to them and we were expected to win — and that was our expectation. So us losing, it really makes me work harder.

“It makes us all want to work harder.”