Yamilex Rodriguez, Freshmen Push Undermanned Reading High Past Conrad Weiser and into BCIAA Semifinals

By Sam Cavalieri, Berks Girls Basketball correspondent

Reading started the BCIAA girls quarterfinal against Conrad Weiser down three players and one point.

Kailani Ocasio and Tamyia Collier, both senior starters, and Elyssa Spring, a senior wing off the bench, were all suspended due to being ejected in a fight against Wilson on Jan. 30. Before the game started, the Red Knights were assessed an administrative technical foul for not having starters listed correctly in the scorebook by the 10-minute mark in warmups. 

Reading High senior Yamilex Rodriguez against Wilson earlier this season. (PhilMarPhoto)

What Reading did have was a pressuring defense and its leader Yamilex Rodriguez. The Red Knights (15-8) forced the Scouts into 31 turnovers and Rodriguez’s steadying presence had a game-high 15 points to lead Reading High to a 44-28 victory Saturday at The Geigle.

“You know that’s our game plan, speed teams up and force turnovers,” Reading head coach Rashida Suber said. “That’s what gets (the players) going.”

Conrad Weiser couldn’t solve the pressure or handle the athleticism of Reading. The Scouts committed at least seven turnovers in every quarter. They finished the game with only 29 shot attempts compared to 47 for Reading. 

“It’s tough in practice to simulate what Reading can do,” Conrad Weiser head coach Chris Kline said. “Their athleticism, their speed, the way they read passes, it’s just hard to practice for that because you never see it that way other than when you play them.”

Both teams got off to a slow start which was only natural for a morning tipoff at 11 a.m. Reading led 6-2 late in the first quarter when Conrad Weiser showed its first signs of life. Alex Trevena hit a trey and was fouled. The referee ruled the foul came after the shot and awarded possession back to the Scouts (16-7), who took advantage with a Lauren Grabosky bucket, two of her team-high 11 points.

The Scouts took a 7-6 lead into the second quarter but a 9-0 run led by Rodriguez and freshman Xiani Beatty quickly regained control for the Red Knights at 15-7. Rodriguez didn’t score in the first quarter but had five points in the run that re-established control for Reading.

“(Rodriguez) is the catalyst,” Suber said. “She’s what keeps us going. She’s level-headed and she understands who she’s playing with. She knows it's her last year, she knows the younger ones are coming up and she’s trying to help mold them.”

The Red Knights led 19-12 at halftime but the lead felt larger based on how the first half played out. The Scouts switched to a zone look on defense to start the second half and kept their turnovers in check to tie the game at 20-20 on Geniva Paul’s drop-step move and layup. 

Reading High freshman Xiani Beatty drives against Wilson earlier this season. (PhilMarPhoto)

But just as Reading had answered in the first half, they responded again. This time two freshmen, who were forced into major minutes due to the suspensions, stepped up. Yolanda Velez scored the first field goal of the second half for Reading with less than 3:00 in the quarter and Skie Blijden followed with two free throws to start an 8-0 run to put the Red Knights up 28-20.

“When they tied the game up, I knew that it was just certain things that we needed to adjust with,” Rodriguez said. “But, I wasn’t worried because as long as I stay poised and I stay calm my team is going to work around that. We stood patient, we got our shots, made the right passes, and that’s what allowed us to run our lead back up.”

Velez finished with five points in a starting role and Blijden had four rebounds off the bench.

“(Velez) is a bigger guard, but we can use her as a forward as well. (Blijden) bangs on the boards and she’s undersized but she’s going to get in there and bang bodies,” Suber said about her two freshmen.

Weiser did not get any closer than six the rest of the way. 

“We talk all the time about when you get yourself in a hole, the energy you spend to get back in it,” Kline said. “The kids played their tails off in the third quarter there and came out and did everything they needed to do. I think we just kind of ran out of gas a little bit and Reading made some adjustments.”

Reading moves onto the semifinals against Wyomissing, which defeated Oley Valley 58-33, at the Santander Arena on Wednesday. The Spartans defeated Reading in the first round of the BCIAA girls playoffs in 2024 and in the final in 2023.

Reading High head coach Rashida Suber. (PhilMarPhoto)

	1	2	3	4	Final
Reading High	6	13	9	16	44
Conrad Weiser	7	5	8	8	28

Red Knights (15-8)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Bradley	0-4	0-0	0-0	0	3	0
Beatty	2-7	4-8	0-1	2	2	8
Rodriguez	6-15	2-2	1-6	2	4	15
Laws	3-5	1-1	0-0	0	6	7
Velez	2-6	1-2	0-1	0	1	5
N. Ortega	1-3	3-6	0-0	1	3	5
Blijden	0-3	2-2	0-0	0	4	2
Nunez	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Sosa	1-3	0-0	0-2	0	0	2
Totals	15-47	13-21	1-11	5	23/26	44

Scouts (16-7)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Trevena	2-4	3-4	2-4	0	2	9
Paul	1-5	1-2	0-1	0	8	3
Feliciano	0-4	0-2	0-0	1	2	0
Spang	1-3	0-0	0-2	0	3	2
Grabosky	2-11	7-8	0-0	2	5	11
Bossler	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Snyder	1-1	0-0	1-1	0	1	3
Robison	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	7-29	11-16	3-9	3	22/29	28

Turnovers: Conrad Weiser 31, Reading High 14. Team rebounds: Conrad Weiser 7, Reading High 3.