By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The 3rd Annual CoBL Winter Showcase at Exeter Township High School brought 12 different teams to Reading this weekend for eight games of competition as the 2025-26 season gets rolling. It was a terrific weekend of competition,
Here’s who stood out over the course of the weekend:
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Nico Antoniacci (2028 | Riverside)
Nico Antoniacci (above) scored 40 points in Riverside's win over Penncrest. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)
In an event filled with standout individual performances, Antoniacci outdid them all. The 6-foot-3 combo guard with a couple high-major offers already in his pocket has proven himself as one of the top scorers in the Keystone State, and he showed why on Saturday in a high-profile game against Penncrest, scoring 40 points to lift the Vikings to a 57-51 win. Antoniacci came out firing and didn’t stop, hitting shots from NBA range and with a high degree of difficulty, moving left and right, and with touch and finesse around the rim. He finished 14-of-22 from the floor, 6-of-12 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 from the foul line, doing all of that while grabbing nine rebounds and five steals and dishing out two assists.
Sean Benson (2028 | Penncrest)
A bouncy 6-1 combo guard, Benson couldn’t quite go shot-for-shot with Antoniacci, but there’s no doubt his shooting helped keep the Lions in the game up until the end. Benson made sure Penncrest hung early, making four straight first-quarter shots including a 3-pointer, getting halfway to his 18 points just in the opening frame. But he continually used his ability on the bounce to get the Riverside defense moving, and he hit several more contested jumpers throughout the course of the game to co-lead his team in scoring while adding a handful of other stats.
Fareed Brown (2026 | Eng. & Sciences)
Eng. & Sciences put up a good fight against Berks Catholic, losing by four to the Reading-area powerhouse, with Brown doing his best to deliver a win for the Engineers. The speedy 5-9 guard is a whirling dervish going to the hoop, loving to throw his body around and use the glass to score at odd angles with both hands, while showing he can stretch the floor to keep defenders honest. Brown finished with a team-high 17 points for E&S, including seven during the fourth quarter as they tried to pull off the win; he also added three rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block.
Dylan Donate (2026 | Exeter Twp.)
Dylan Donate (above) had strong games on Friday and Saturday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
Donate earned a spot on this list almost solely with his third quarter in Exeter’s win over Pottstown on Friday night. The 6-0 senior guard caught fire in a close game, hitting three straight 3-pointers — getting fouled on the last one, completing the four-point play — as he scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in about a three-minute span, helping the Eagles open up an 18-point advantage they used to coast to the win. Donate did a good job of playing aggressively all game long, getting to the line four different times (6-7 FT), and his ability to rise up and knock down jumpers was undeniable. He was strong again on Saturday, scoring another 20 points with five rebounds five assists and three steals.
Xander Grasty (2027 | Abington)
If not for Antoniacci, the biggest heater of the weekend went to Grasty, who dropped 32 points on Wilson West Lawn, accounting for more than half of Abington’s offense in a 69-57 Wilson win. The 5-10 guard missed a few jumpers in the first half but caught fire once the second period started; a couple deep 3’s got him rolling, and it was on from there. Scooping layups, pull-up jumpers, attacking his man one-on-one, even dribbling throughout the defense just to look for a gap, Grasty was constantly playing to score, finishing 11-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line.
Peter Kelfala (2026 | Wilson West Lawn)
Kelafala put on an impressive two-way clinic in Wilson’s win over Abington. The 6-3 wing was efficient offensively, going 6-of-11 from the floor (2-2 3PT) and 8-of-9 from the foul line as he led the Bulldogs with 22 points, showing good body control around the rim and the ability to draw contact, with a smooth-looking jumper that he connect on from both deep and the mid-range. Defensively, Kelafala knew how to use his length, coming up with six blocks and 11 rebounds as well as a steal, doing a great job of timing layups and interior attempts to swat them away or just get a fingertip on them to alter a shot.
Kingston McKoy (2026 | Berks Catholic)
A 6-3 wing and Colgate commit, McKoy showed everybody that he was the best player in the gym on Friday night with an impressive 28-point, seven-rebound outing for the Saints in their win over Engineering & Sciences. McKoy did it in all sorts of ways — he hit four 3-pointers (on nine attempts), had a pair of and-ones, completing the three-point play both times, and showed off a reliable floater that he knocked down multiple times in the lane, demonstrating good natural touch and feel in scoring from different positions. He also added two steals, an assist and a block to a well-rounded showing. He wasn’t quite as dominant on Saturday, but still managed 15 points and five rebounds in a loss to Parkland.
Josh Miller (2028 | Muhlenberg)
The Muhls featured a balanced offensive effort in their 63-54 win over Cedar Crest on Friday night, but Miller impressed with his team-high 12 points. The 6-1 guard brought a ton of energy off the bench, coming up with five steals, leading all players as Muhlenberg forced 21 turnovers. Miller was aggressive with the ball in his hands, continually getting to the rim off the bounce, or leaking out in transition to receive an outlet pass and then beating his man to the rack. For his two-way effort, he was named team MVP in the win.
Mikey Mita (2026 | Penncrest)
Mikey Mita (above) scored 18 points and surpassed the 1,000-point barrier. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
Penncrest’s hard-working big man hit the 1,000-point mark this weekend, getting there in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Riverside as he tied with Benson for a team high of 18 points in the loss to the Vikings. The 6-7 Carnegie Mellon commit is a master of the mid-range, knocking down multiple jumpers in the 15-17 foot realm, all with a hand in his face, using his high release point to get his shot off where it hit nothing but net over and over; he missed all of his 3-pointers but was 8-of-10 inside the arc, adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals as well.
Steven Reyes (2028 | Cedar Crest)
Reyes provided a huge spark for Cedar Crest off the bench in their Friday afternoon game against Muhlenberg. The 6-0 guard jumped in and almost immediately hit the scoreboard with a couple layups and then a deep 3-pointer, starting him on a game that saw him finish with 13 points, eight rebounds and a steal. Most impressively, despite being one of the smaller players on the court, Reyes grabbed four of those boards offensively and did a good job of popping it back up and in when he could or kicking it out to an open teammate if that wasn’t an option.
Antonio Tirado (2027 | Cedar Crest)
Tirado won MVP honors for Cedar Crest with a 19-point, five-rebound, two-assist effort, doing his best to keep the Falcons in a game they ultimately lost to the Muhls. A 6-1 combo guard, Tirardo’s got some slinkiness to get around and past defenders and to the rim, where he showed he can finish well with both hands, even through contact, making one of the game’s highlight-reel plays with an and-one layup in the fourth quarter.
Yahsir Wood (2026 | Pottstown)
Pottstown had the quickest turnaround of anybody on the weekend, playing at 8:30pm on Friday night before a 12:45pm tipoff on Saturday. But the Trojans did well, bouncing back from a loss to Exeter to beat Cedar Crest, with Wood playing quite well in both of them. The 6-5 forward and centerpiece of Pottstown’s offensive and defensive game plan put up 22 points and 12 rebounds with four steals and two assists on Friday, then followed that up with a 16-point, 10-rebound, five-block outing (plus two assists and a steal) on Saturday. Wood isn’t elite in any one skill but is a good finisher, can handle the ball, is a solid and willing passer, and rebounds and defends at a high level.
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Honorable Mention
Correll Akings (2026 | Wilson West Lawn), Elias Butler (2026 | Pottstown), Jeremiah Camara (2027 | Berks Catholic), Carmelo Harper (2028 | Berks Catholic), Eli Hemmings (2027 | Muhlenberg), Ryan Kearney (2026 | Parkland), Nelson Malave (2027 | Muhlenberg), Michael Miller Jr. (2026 | Muhlenberg), Blake Nassry (2027 | Parkland), Jemar Pauleus (2028 | Cedar Crest), Bryce Phillips (2026 | Pottsgrove), Javian Porter (2026 | Parkland), Braylon Reinert (2027 | Exeter Twp.), Brayden Rose (2027 | Riverside), Greg Rosenberger (2026 | Pottsgrove), Jayden Ware (2026 | Exeter Twp.)
Tag(s): Home High School Boys HS Central League (B) Penncrest Pac-10 (B) PAC-10 Frontier (B) Pottsgrove Pottstown Public League (B) Public League A (B) Eng. & Sciences