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PIAA Class 6A: Late push propels Reading past Perk Valley

03/17/2017, 12:15am EDT
By Michael Bullock

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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READING — Now that’s what you call a quality finishing kick.

Only lasted three minutes or so, but that was more than enough time for Reading to erase a lingering deficit, build an unconquerable advantage and draw a partisan crowd into the festivities at three-digit decibel levels.
 
Oh, that late salvo also propelled the Red Knights one round deeper in the PIAA’s hyper-competitive Class 6A basketball tournament.
 
Tyrone Nesby collected 20 points, Lonnie Walker chimed in with 18 and Isiah Cook finished with 10 as Reading parlayed its late burst into a 62-52 victory over a terrific Perkiomen Valley club before 4,200 electrified fans at buzzing Santander Arena.
 
Wesley Butler tacked on eight points for Rick Perez’s Knights (27-3), who will meet the winner of Friday’s second-round game between Pocono Mountain West and Plymouth-Whitemarsh in a quarterfinal that’s likely to be held on Sunday.
 
Justin Jaworski banked 21 points and Hogan Millheim pocketed 16 for Mike Poysden’s valiant Vikings (23-7), who were able to navigate Reading’s relentless man pressure for three-plus quarters. Eventually, though, that press began having an effect.
 
A deleterious effect.
 
“I saw Lonnie look me in the eye and I saw Isiah Cook look me in the eye and say, ‘We’re not going home today,’” Perez said. “I said, ‘Thank you. I feel much better.’
 
“It took a long time because Perkiomen Valley is an amazing program.”
 
Still trailing 48-44 as the midway point of the final quarter neared, Walker’s runner soon had the Red Knights within two. Perk Valley had an answer, however, as Sean Owens (9 points) was able to get to the tin and lay in a deuce.
 
With the crowd beginning to crescendo as the action played out on the floor below, the decibel levels grew significantly at the 3:07 mark when Nesby turned a Butler dish into a 3-pointer from the left wing that sliced Reading’s deficit to one.
 
“It’s expected. I know what Tyrone can do,” said Walker, who added five boards and dished out four assists. “Shooting the ball is one of them. So that’s what we need of him. He shoots the ball, we play defense and that’s how we keep the ball rolling.”
Several ticklish moments later, Reading’s pressure led to another turnover that the Miami-bound Walker turned into a ferocious tomahawk, giving the Red Knights their first lead since late in the opening quarter and really setting off those in the seats.
 
“By far,” Walker said. “Once Tyrone made [that 3-ball], you heard the crowd and my eyes just got bright red. That’s what happens to me. And after the dunk, then I blacked out. It was just like it’s over for us the rest of the game.
 
“I’m not losing this game. After that dunk, I got so much energy and so much hunger, it got to the point where it was my team. Tyrone played a big part. Cook had an and-one when we were up. Wesley Butler made a few free throws.
 
“I don’t know what I would do without this team.”
 
Walker might not know what he would do without those in the seats who may have witnessed his final Reading appearance in Red Knights gear.
 
Of course, the PIAA could bring the Knights back to Santander.
 
“We did a nice job of taking the crowd out of it,” Poysden said. “Our game plan was to come in confident, run our stuff and shoot with confidence. It doesn’t matter where we are or who we’re up against. I thought we were able to really deflate the gym for much of the first half. … When you play a team like Reading, there’s no free passes and there’s no free catches and I think our legs may have helped tell us what was coming.”
 
Another Walker finish — along with the ensuing and-one — really had Poysden’s Vikings wobbly even down just four (54-50) yet the crowd authored the knockdown.
 
“It’s a test of patience. It’s a test of character,” said Perez, whose Red Knights converted 52.3 percent (22-for-42) of their shot attempts. Reading canned six treys.
 
“We couldn’t have been in a better situation today.”
 
Eight more points followed — Cook finished at the rim and four Knights knocked down freebies — before a late Owens jumper closed out the contest.
 
Turns out that late kick was all it took.
 
“It’s just about our heart,” Walker said. “We’ve got the athleticism. We’ve got the offensive game. We’ve got the defensive game. We’ve got everything for a team to win, win almost every game we want. But it’s all about our heart and effort.”
 
Yet for three-plus quarters a well-drilled Vikings bunch was able to solve Reading’s pressure often enough to get into their stuff, flash terrific ball movement and build a lead that grew as large as eight points (24-16) midway through the second quarter.
 
A pesky 3-2 matchup zone also proved bothersome to Perez’s outfit.
 
Even though the Knights were down by just a bucket (41-39) after three quarters, Perkiomen Valley to that point had connected on 64 percent (16-for-25) of its field-goal tries and had knocked down five of its nine 3-point attempts.
 
Jaworski was sensational, scoring 18 of his 21 points in the opening three quarters. And the undersized Millheim was effective in the paint, adding 12 points.
 
“I thought we played really well the first three,” Poysden said. “I thought we played really well. I thought we struggled to find vertical movement once they started trapping us. We struggled to advance down and we settled back instead of over.
 
“You can do your best to simulate Reading pressure and then they get you the next time,” Poysden continued. “The first three quarters I think we handled it better and then the fourth quarter I don’t know [that we had much success against it].
 
“Reading’s going to turn you over. I think the first three we had a game plan of trying to limit, limit, but then in the fourth we didn’t do what we needed to.”
 
And while the Vikings were still up seven (46-39) some two minutes into the final quarter following Millheim’s slick jump hook, eventually that pressure did what it was designed to do and that was to make Perkiomen Valley uncomfortable.
 
Tired legs also may have played a role, too.
 
Same for Reading’s length.
 
“You can’t ask for anything more,” Poysden said. “You can’t ask for those guys to play any harder, play any tougher, handle the moment, handle the pressure.
 
“I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve done.”
 
Once the 6-5 Walker soared high into the air and thundered home his resounding flush to give Reading its first lead in quite some time and generate all sorts of momentum, the crowd carried Perez’s Red Knights to the finish line.
 
Thanks to another positive result in the books, the Red Knights moved into the state quarterfinals and another step closer to meeting even bigger objectives.
 
“We all have one goal,” Walker said. “And right now we’re accomplishing that goal.“


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