City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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HERSHEY, Pa. — The blare of the final horn could hardly be heard Saturday night at the GIANT Center.

Those in red uniforms added to the screams already taking place in the sea of red in the crowd. They flexed, they yelled, they cried. Most ended up lying on the floor, whether by their own or a teammate’s doing.

“It was just a moment of relief, just happiness, happiness, that’s all it is,” Reading senior Myles Grey said well after the celebration inside the arena had ended, wearing the championship net around his neck.

Roman Catholic and Reading lived up to the billing. The cathartic celebration was deserved.

Two of the state’s most recognizable program went back-and-forth for 36 minutes to decide the PIAA Class 6A boys basketball champion on Saturday in Hershey, capping a weekend of championships.

In the end, some clutch foul shooting from Reading was the difference-maker as the Red Knights improved to 3-0 in state championship games, taking the 2023 6A boys’ title, 63-56 over the Cahillites, a final dunk by senior Aris Rodriguez sending the place into a pandemonium and capping arguably the greatest season in Red Knights’ history.

Reading celebrates winning the 2023 PIAA 6A boys basketball championship. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

“I can look back on this day and just have a sense of pride,” Grey said. “Just always look back on it with a smile on my face because it’s a memory that we just made tonight.

Reading came in a perfect 30-0 against teams from Pennsylvania, and a Roman squad that’s been playing its whole state run without two starters from its Catholic League championship squad gave it everything it could handle, right up until the end.

After Xzayvier Brown put Roman up 56-54 with 2:43 left in overtime on a pair of foul shots, the Cahillites went empty on their last four possessions, turning it over twice with two missed shots. 

Yadiel Cruz hit 3-of-4 from the stripe over two trips to put Reading up a point with 1:04 remaining; after a missed shot by Anthony Finkley, Reading’s Aris Rodriguez added two more from the stripe with 24 seconds remaining, and Grey two more (after a turnover) with 11 seconds left. 

Rodriguez provided the exclamation point, a dunk in the final second to send the thousands of Reading faithful who filled the GIANT Center home with a roar. That capped off a team-high 16 point effort from the 6-foot-3 senior, who was joined by 14 from Grey as all eight Red Knights who saw action entered the scoring column. 

“We went out there, we had fun, they had fun,” Roman sophomore Shareef Jackson said. “At the end of the game, guys are out there crying and I’m fine with that. We both played both of our behinds off and both at the end really put all we could into the game, and they came out on top and I can’t really be mad about that.”

Reading senior Myles Gray celebrates after a steal in the final seconds of overtime Saturday against Roman. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Ruben Rodriguez, Reading’s Rider-bound star, finished with eight points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals, his Reading career ending with 2,008 points.

Brown, as he has been all postseason, was everywhere for Roman as he capped off a stellar four-year career. The senior point guard and St. Joe’s commit finished with a game-high 23 points, plus four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Jackson, Roman’s 6-7 sophomore forward, added 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Cahillites fell behind by nine, 28-19, early in the third quarter. But Brown propelled them back into the game with 15 of his points in the third and fourth quarters. They trailed 43-39 entering the fourth before taking their first lead of the second half on a Brown and-one with 5:41 to play. 

Brown’s had all kinds of special moments during Roman’s postseason run, which included an improbable comeback in the Catholic League title game, and it appeared like Brown was going to lead another but RC couldn’t quite pull it off. 

“We’ve had a good magical run, and a little of the magic kind of went away a little bit,” Roman coach Chris McNesby said. “But Reading’s a great team. They play hard, so credit to them. They gave us a battle. We turned the ball over a little too much. We had 18 turnovers. That was a little bit out of character. … They bothered us, and a couple unforced. That’s how it goes in championship games.”

“Overall, we threw it all out on the floor, and Xzayvier Brown, what a career at Roman.”

Grey quickly answered Brown’s big bucket with a three to put Reading back ahead. Jackson eventually tied things up, 51-51, on a tip-in with 1:41 to play.

There was no shortage of drama in the final minute of regulation.

After Nick Chapman’s foul shots put Reading up 53-51 with 26 seconds remaining, Roman’s Robert Cottrell grabbed the offensive rebound off a miss by Brown and was fouled, converting one of two foul shots.

Reading missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with nine seconds to play, Brown racing upcourt and drawing the foul with one second remaining. He missed the first but made the second with Red Knights’ faithful bellowing down on him, sending the game to overtime. 

“Just hoped that he missed it. That’s really all it was,” Grey said of his team’s thoughts with Brown at the line and 1.2 seconds left of regulation. “I knew once he missed that, that we were going to overtime and we were gonna win this game.

“It just opened everything back up for us. I was confident once again. I knew that we would go into overtime and just dominate and win the game.”

The Reading boys basketball team and its cheerleaders, coaches and fans celebrate Saturday's state championship win over Roman. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Roman’s season ended with disappointment, but it also included many highs with the PCL and District 12 titles added to the school’s trophy case. Without starters Erik Oliver-Bush and Jermai Stewart-Herring in the PIAA postseason, junior guard Robert Cottrell and sophomore guard Will Felder, who was rarely in the rotation during the season, stepped up to help the Cahiliites finish just one or two plays short of a state title.

“When you’re a starter, i’s fun and easy being on a high school team,” Jackson said. “But being that guy who sometimes doesn’t get to play the entire season and still have practice every single day, still have events every single day, really we went as far as they took us with X as well.”

Reading tested itself against PCL foes Devon Prep and Cardinal O’Hara in the non-conference. The Red Knights took down Archbishop Wood in the state title game in 2021. 

They still felt counted out heading into Saturday’s matchup, though its pretty clear after their third state title since 2017 that the Reading program is right there with the top dogs in the state.

“You know, I like to stay off the media, not really mind people’s opinions, but I know a lot of people had Roman beating us and I knew going into this, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not happening,’” Grey said. “We kind of play with that chip on our shoulder, a lot of people still doubting us. It’s just put that with our hunger. Every single game, we know that we just want to play with that hunger and come out there and win.”

By Quarter
Roman:    10  |   9   |  20  |  14  |   3   ||  56
Reading:  12  |  11  |  20  |  10  |  10  ||  63

Shooting
Roman: 17-38 FG (3-13 3PT), 19-25 FT
Reading: 20-48 FG (7-16 3PT), 16-24 FT

Scoring

Roman: Xzayvier Brown 23, Shareef Jackson, Will Felder 7, Anthony Finkley 6, Robert Cottrell 3

Reading: Aris Rodriguez 16, Myles Grey 14, Nick Chapman 9, Ruben Rodriguez 8, Yadiel Cruz 4, Jedaya Ortega 4, Malik Osumanu 4, Ameir Burdine 2