There weren't many stylistic similarities between Reading High and Gov. Mifflin entering the Berks Girls League championship.
The Red Knights were experienced, deep, and liked to force turnovers and get their points in transition. The Mustangs were young, had a short bench, and fielded Berks' best offense by bombing away from deep.
The deciding difference was Reading's depth as the Red Knights wore down the Mustangs to capture their first title since 2010 in a 63-57 victory Friday night at Santander Arena.
Gov. Mifflin led at the end of the first three quarters, but the Red Knights' 10-plus rotation kept them fresh in the fourth quarter as they outscored the tired Mustangs by 10.
Reading High head coach Rashida Suber utilized 11 total players while Gov. Mifflin head coach Mike Clark played six with injuries and an unfortunate health scare forcing his hand.
Freshman sensation guard Xiani Beatty led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds and senior wing Tamyia Collier chipped in 13 points for the Red Knights as top scorer Yamilex Rodriguez, who scored a team-high 16 points and hit the game-winner against Wyomissing in the semifinals, was face guarded the full length of the court for the majority of the game.
"We put their stats on the board after yesterday's game," Suber said of her Red Knights. "We told them at the end of the day our role players have to show up. We knew what [Mifflin] was going to do to Lex. [The role players] were ready to play and, for the seniors, what a way to go out."
Beatty has been a critical addition to the Red Knights, taking pressure off Reading's now historic senior class and proving to be the future of the program.
"We came into this game knowing we hadn't won it in 15 years," Beatty said. "We knew how big of an opportunity this was, even when we were down heading to the fourth. We had to bring the energy because we didn't come all the way here for nothing."
Beatty sealed the game with 24.9 seconds left with her two free throws that made it 62-57. Senior Tamyia Collier's 3-pointer at 1:26 was crucial in giving the Red Knights a cushion (Rodriguez was happy to assist on the 3 with all of the defensive pressure focused on her.)
"I was wide open," Collier said. "You miss every shot you don't take. I knew I was going to shoot it and confident it was going to go in. I knew my team needed that shot to get us up."
Senior Zaniaya Bradley's 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half was yet another key instance of the Red Knights' role players stepping up to the occasion. Many of the points and rebounds were the result of putbacks that helped the Red Knights combat Gov. Mifflin sophomore Bella Super, who was on fire offensively.
"There wasn't anyone to stop me from getting rebounds," Bradley said. "I was just doing everything I could to get the ball back for my teammates. A lot of the time I was able to put it back up and finish."
Super missed her first two foul shots and field goals but then went on an absolute heater. She hit two 3s in the first quarter and the Mustangs led 16-12 after one.
She started drawing fouls and getting to the rim in the second quarter, hitting 6-of-8 free throws and another 3, but the Red Knights' seniors weathered the storm.
Super hit one of two foul shots to give Mifflin a 21-16 lead then the Red Knights went on an 11-0 run started with three straight putbacks from seniors Collier, Bradley, and Elyssa Spring, the latter of which gave Reading its first lead since 3:02 left in the first quarter.
Bradley then converted another putback and senior Kailani Ocasio drilled a 3 to cap the run and give Reading a 27-21 lead.
The Mustangs answered with an 11-5 run to take a 32-31 lead into the break.
Super scored 10 points in the third, including 6-for-6 shooting from the foul line. The third quarter produced eight lead changes with tons of exciting plays.
Super swatted a 3-point attempt into the stands at the 3:09 mark with Mifflin leading 41-39. Rodriguez drilled a 3 seven seconds later to give Reading the lead back. Mifflin sophomore Bridget Martin converted two free throws before Rodriguez set a perfect screen to free Beatty up for a wide-open layup to give Reading a 44-43 lead at 2:21.
Super converted two free throws at 1:58 and Ocasio found junior JilliAnn Laws down low and Laws was fouled, converting one of two free throws to tie it 45-45.
Super then hit freshman Saray Renninger breaking down the court on a fast break to give Mifflin the lead and took the ball coast-to-coast for a layup buzzer-beater to end the third and give Mifflin a 49-45 advantage.
Renninger converted an and-one off an assist from Super to give the Mustangs a 52-49 lead before Beatty's floater, Spring's putback, and Rodriguez's bucket made it 55-52 Reading High.
Super hit a step-back 3 to tie it with 3:28 left and then the Mustangs lost their legs.
Collier's floater gave Reading a two-point lead and then hit the vital 3 with 1:26 left to push the lead to 60-57.
Mifflin left a bunch of jump shots short and fouls from both sides ended in Beatty making both free throws to push the lead to five. Beatty then swatted a Mifflin 3 with 17.1 seconds left.
The Mustangs could not get a bucket to fall as they attempted to hit one of their vintage 3s in the final seconds until Reading High finally secured the rebound, Rodriguez made a free throw, and time ran out.
"We ran out of gas," Clark said. "I tried everything to slow them down. [Suber] played 11 kids and wore us down. I can't ask for much more from our kids though. We played three sophomores and a freshman and another freshman off the bench."
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Reading High | 12 | 19 | 14 | 18 | 63 |
Gov. Mifflin | 16 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 57 |
Red Knights (17-8) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Bradley | 5-10 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 11 | 10 |
Beatty | 7-18 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 1 | 7 | 16 |
Rodriguez | 2-8 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
Laws | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
Velez | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
N. Ortega | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Blijden | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Collier | 6-12 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
Gaskins | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Spring | 3-7 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
Ocasio | 1-6 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Totals | 26-73 | 6-12 | 3-15 | 8 | 41/44 | 65 |
Mustangs (16-9) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Super | 5-13 | 12-18 | 4-9 | 3 | 11 | 28 |
George | 1-12 | 2-2 | 0-8 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
Martin | 3-9 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
Renninger | 2-5 | 4-5 | 0-1 | 0 | 9 | 8 |
Armstrong | 3-7 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
Brumbach | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 14-47 | 21-29 | 6-27 | 9 | 27/36 | 57 |
Turnovers: Gov. Mifflin 16, Reading High 11. Team rebounds: Gov. Mifflin 9, Reading High 3.
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