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PIAA 6A: Reading runs away from Upper Darby, ends Royals season

03/15/2023, 11:00pm EDT
By Joseph Santoliquito

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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COATESVILLE — Nadir Myers’ three-pointer at the outset of the fourth quarter was enough to cause a vocal, partisan Reading crowd to shut up for a moment Wednesday night. Myers, the Upper Darby senior guard generously listed at 6-foot-1, was already brandishing a band-aid on the right side of his face from getting hit with a ball in practice the previous day.

He says he’s 145 pounds, though that may come with a pound or two of quarters in his pockets. Yet, time after time, the lithe Myers kept getting up after being knocked down, kept scrambling for loose balls among the behemoths—and put a scare into District 3 champion Reading in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs at Coatesville High School.

The scare didn’t last long, nor did the silence.

Reading went on a tear to win going away, 83-58, despite a game-high 31 points from Myers.


Upper Darby's from left, Yassir Joyner, Bob Miller and Nadir Myers. (Photo: Joseph Santoliquito/CoBL)

The Red Knights (29-1) will now advance to the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals to take on New Castle on Saturday at a site and time to be determined, while Upper Darby saw its season end after an incredible turnaround, to finish 20-9 overall.

The Royals reached the second round of the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 2013. Upper Darby, under coach Bob Miller, also turned around a program that went 7-13 last year.

“I’ll miss being with these guys, and being all together,” Myers said. “We’re a family that worked together and we’re all friends outside of basketball. We needed to slow the game and tried to take them away from their trap. I’m proud of myself and my teammates and we fought them hard.”

Upper Darby even actually led, 23-20, on a Myers’ three-pointer with 3:31 left in the first half. But the Red Knights have a habit of turning up the defensive pressure, which caused a series of turnovers and quick transition points to go into halftime ahead, 36-28.

After Upper Darby starters Khysir Slaughter and Niymire Brown fouled out, the Royals looked cooked again at the outset of the fourth quarter. But with 6:52 to play, Myers again nailed a trey to silence the well-traveled Reading fanbase in pulling Upper Darby to within 58-50.

“My guys are warriors, there is no quit, especially the little guy, Nadir, who’s about 5-10 and needs a few ham sandwiches, but he’s just amazing player,” Miller said. “The fact that Reading had to put two guys on him in the second half tells just how good he is. They speed you up. We put eight guys in practice to simulate what they do, and the problem is once you get in the game, the middle is open.

“On the first pass, the cut in the middle is open, but we didn’t see it. What we did was dribble up the sideline, which is what we didn’t want to do. In a halfcourt game, we could have done a lot better. If we could have stayed a halfcourt game, which is unusual for Upper Darby asking for that, it could have been better. Niymire fouling out was huge for us.

“We scrambled back. The best part was this was obviously a home game for Reading, even though we’re playing in Coatesville, and the crowd became deathly silent when Nadir hit that three. We put a scare into them.

“I’m very proud of these kids. Reading is 29-1 for a reason. They take you out of what you do.”

Reading received great balanced scoring, getting a team-high 22 from Ruben Rodriguez, 17 from Yadiel Cruz, 15 from Aris Rodriguez, 14 from Myles Grey and 10 from Malik Osumanu.

“We knew we needed to slow down (Myers) and (Brown),” Reading coach Rick Perez said. “Upper Darby was a tough team. They were relentless. They had scoring power among their top three. Brown was very good, and Myers can really score.

“I think we’re showing maturity at winning at a lot of different levels. We’re showing we can win slow games, we can win at fast games. We can shoot it, we can play outside, we can win inside. Our senior leaders are outstanding. They understand what needs to get done. They run the ship. I’m the guy who makes sure the sails are up.”

All of the seniors walked out of the Upper Darby locker room with bloodshot eyes Wednesday night.

“I’ll remember everything about this team,” senior Yassir Joyner said. “I love these group of guys. Reading was a tough team, and they liked to run. If we would have kept at halfcourt, we would have had a shot. They’re pests. They kept it at a relay. It’s what they do best. From Day One, we spoke about keep fighting, and we left it all out there.”

With a scare or two along the way.

By Quarter

Upper Darby (20-9):  14  | 14  |  17  | 13 ||  58

Reading (29-1):  20   | 16  |  20  |  27 ||  86

Scoring

Upper Darby: Nadir Myers 31, Yassir Joyner 16, Troy Alston 5, Niymire Brown 4, Khysir Slaughter 2.

Reading: Ruben Rodriguez 22, Yadiel Cruz 17, Aris Rodriguez 15, Myles Grey 14, Malik Osumanu 10, Kahlil Samuel 2, Amier Burdine 2, Jedaya Ortega 1.

~~~

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.

Wed., March 15
Boys 6A
(11-1) Parkland vs. (1-7) Garnet Valley (6 PM)
(1-2) Spring-Ford 43, (3-3) Hempfield 39
(12-1) Roman Catholic 60, (1-3) Lower Merion 56 (OT)
(7-2) New Castle 65, (1-4) Downingtown West 56
(3-1) Reading 86, (1-6) Upper Darby 58
(1-9) Coatesville 61, (1-8) North Penn 55
(12-3) Archbishop Wood 72, (3-6) Chambersburg 45

Girls 5A
(1-1) West Chester Rustin 49, (2-2) Abington Heights 46
(12-1) Archbishop Wood 42, (1-2) Villa Maria 29
(1-3) Bishop Shanahan 43, (2-1) Pittston Area 35.
(11-1) Bethlehem Catholic 34, (1-4) Gwynedd Mercy 24

Boys 4A
(1-1) Bishop Shanahan 69, (2-1) Scranton Prep 57

Girls 4A
(12-1) Lansdale Catholic 79, (4-2) Jersey Shore 42
(3-5) Trinity 67, (12-2) Audenried 50
(2-1) Scranton Prep 51, (1-1) Nazareth Acad.47 (OT)
(3-1) Wyomissing 40, (12-3) Neumann-Goretti 33

Boys 3A
(12-3) Devon Prep 82, (2-2) Mid Valley 52
(12-1) West Catholic 56, (2-1) Holy Redeemer 47
(3-1) Trinity 91, Math, Civics & Sciences 84

Girls 3A
(2-1) Dunmore 52, (12-1) Imhotep Charter 34Boys 2A
(11-1) Mahanoy Area 58, (12-1) Constitution 40
(1-1) Dock Mennonite 60, (12-2) Sankofa Freedom 44

Girls 1A
(4-2) St. John Neumann 40, (1-1) The Christian Acad. 37


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