City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

Though the first weekend of the PIAA hoops season has come and gone, this upcoming weekend is when things really start to heat up. 

A number of high-profile hoops events will be taking place across the state — including in Reading, where City of Basketball Love and Exeter Township High School have paired up for the second year in a row for a showcase featuring teams from four different districts in Southeastern PA — District 1, District 3, District 11 and District 12

All varsity games will be played in the main gym; junior varsity games will take place in the auxility gym, which is directly next to the main gym. Admission will be $10 per day and $5 for high school students; District 3 passes will NOT be accepted.

Here’s the full schedule for the event; home teams are listed first:

Friday, Dec. 6
5:00 PM: Sankofa Freedom vs. Pope John Paul II (3:45 pm PM JV)

Friday night gets underway with a battle between two CoBL-area teams, as the Public League (Sankofa) meets the Pioneer Athletic Conference (PJP II). PJP II is under the direction of second-year head coach Earl Wise, who has a quality backcourt to lean on featuring his son, Ayden Wise, and fellow junior Jason Green, along with senior forward Jake Robinson; senior guard Damian Savior, a Renaissance Academy transfer, gives them more pop in the backcourt. Sankofa’s going to have a new look this year, with some real upside in its youth including freshman forward Rahmir Alexander (6-7) and sophomore Jasir Henderson (6-2), with seniors Asim Hardy, Nasir Brown and Nafis DuBose bringing back experience from a team that made it to the second round of the PIAA Class 2A field a year ago.

6:45 PM: Berks Catholic vs. Cumberland Valley (4:45 PM JV)

The defending District 3 champs, Cumberland Valley and seventh-year head coach David Vespignani are in for two games this weekend, both of which are high-profile matchups that could very well fill the gym at Exeter. The Eagles return all five starters from a 25-win squad, including seniors Nolan Buzalka (6-3), Creston Austin (6-4) and JJ Lebo (6-3) plus a pair of promising sophomores in Aiden Diehl (6-6) and Jared Dolimpio (6-2), forming one of the more formidable groups outside of Southeastern PA. The Saints, who won 22 games a year ago and also made it to the second round of their PIAA bracket (4A), feature junior do-it-all wing Kingston McCoy, as well as 800-game-winner Snip Esterly, who’s coached Berks Catholic for 14 years — the entire of Berks Catholic hoops history — after 22 years at Central Catholic, leading the Saints to a 23-win season last year.

8:30 PM: Exeter Twp. vs. Cedar Crest (5:45 PM JV)

The hosts take the court for the first time on Friday night with a 5A vs. 6A District 3 battle. Exeter, which won 19 games and made it to the second round of the PIAA 5A playoffs before running into Imhotep Charter last year, returns two starters in 6-3 junior guard Aiden Dauble and 6-1 senior guard Brady Murray, who made 50 3-pointers a year ago. After that, second-year coach Jeff VanGorder will be counting on a number of players to step up from last year’s successful JV squad. Cedar Crest graduated four starters from last year’s 21-win squad, but returns a major piece in the middle in 6-7 RJ Young, a versatile forward, who gives 15th-year head coach Tommy Smith something to build around; senior guards Danny Speaks and Jackson Custer also return from last year’s rotation and will be featured more on the court this year.

~~~

Saturday, Dec. 7
12:45 PM: Cedar Crest vs. Chester (11:45 AM JV)

A quick turnaround for Cedar Crest, which will get some sleep and get right back to Exeter for a game against one of the most recognizable name programs in the entire state. Chester hasn’t quite been the powerhouse it was in the 80s, 90s and 00s, when it won more than a half-dozen state titles, the last of those coming in 2012. But Keith Taylor’s been around Chester basketball for more than 30 years, the head coach for the last eight, and he’s got an upperclassman-heavy group led by senior guard Dallas Thompson, along with Kristian Chambers, Jermaine Glover, Nyrell Pray, and talented freshman Zhir Clayton. How a team with nobody over 6-3 guards the 6-7 RJ Young will be an interesting test for the Clippers. 

2:30 PM: Berks Catholic vs. Pope John Paul II (1:15 PM JV)

This is a potential PIAA 4A matchup, as both PJP II and Berks Catholic have their eyes on playing into March ‘25 down the road. It’ll be interesting to see how Berks Catholic’s backcourt handles PJP’s, but also who PJP has guarding McKoy, who can play both inside and out. Watch out for Berks Catholic freshman Carmelo Harper, who’s already drawing some buzz in District 3, and they’ll get additional depth from Brady Altimar, Zach Suski and Jackson Kozik. 

4:15 PM: Governor Mifflin vs. Cumberland Valley (3:00 PM JV)

Governor Mifflin is the only team in the event that didn’t have a winning record a year ago, but first-year head coach Garrett Etzel is looking to surprise some folks with four starters back in the fold. They’re all seniors, too: 6-3 forwards Matt Koehler and Jahmair Johnson as well as 5-7 guard Andrew Galantuomo and 5-11 guard Stephen Mayo. Etzel is challenging his group right off the bat, as the size of CV’s Diehl (6-6) and Austin (6-4) could give them a size inside; and don’t sleep on the on-ball talents of Dolimpio. 

6:00 PM: Wilson vs. Liberty (4:30 PM JV)

This one could easily be a 6A state playoff game a few months from now. Liberty, the District 11 6A runner-ups a year ago, returns four starters from a team that won 20 games last year, taking Coatesville to 2OT in the opening round of the state playoffs. Junior guard Jake Pukszyn (6-3) is a two-sport standout for the Hurricanes, and watch out for 6-4 junior Will Palmer, 6-8 junior Quin Lucas and 5-8 senior Jahsi Cole, who all bring back a ton of experience for head coach Nigel Long. Wilson, under the direction of Matt Coldren, also has four starters back: the starting backcourt of electric guards Madyx Gruber (5-10) and Correll Akings (5-9) plus 6-1 Tommy McFadden and 6-5 Luke Levan. They’ll go eight or nine deep, with a few multi-sport athletes just coming off successful football and soccer campaigns. 

7:45 PM: Exeter vs. Penncrest (6:00 PM JV) 

The closer should be a good one, as Penncrest’s strong group of juniors wants to prove themselves early in this season following a strong summer. Head coach Mike Doyle, who guided the Lions to back-to-back District 1 5A titles in 2017-18, has his best group since then, featuring a core of 2026s who figure to have them competing for Central League titles each of the next two years. Forward Mikey Mita (6-7) and guards Connor Cahill (6-0) and Will Stanton (5-10) are all players to watch, but senior wing Theo Gladue (6-4) had a breakout summer/fall and gives them another scoring option on the wing.