Reading High's boys basketball state championship season is top local sports story in 2023

Dec. 30—Ruben Rodriguez dove backwards and grabbed the loose ball that was behind him, maintaining possession for Reading High.

That remarkable play by the All-State guard during the season's final game, perhaps more than any other, exemplified the hustle and relentlessness that has become a hallmark of Red Knights boys basketball and helped lead to another PIAA Class 6A championship.

"We're not winning on talent," said coach Rick Perez, who was voted the state's Class 6A Coach of the Year after guiding Reading High to its third state title since 2017. "We don't expect to win on talent. We expect to win on our growth as men, spiritually, emotionally, our mindfulness, our toughness; those are the things that help us prevail."

And prevail the Red Knights did in 2023. Their 32-1 season, capped by a 63-56 overtime victory vs. Roman Catholic in the state final in March, has been voted the top local sports story of 2023 by the Reading Eagle sports staff.

Led by a group of seniors — Rodriguez, Myles Grey, Amier Burdine and Aris Rodriguez — who grew up playing together and dreaming of ending their high school careers wearing state gold medals, Reading High dominated on the court and in the headlines.

Down 10 with 4:45 to go in the Berks Conference final, the Red Knights scored 18 straight points to rally for a 70-63 win over Exeter and their second straight county title.

In the District 3 Class 6A final, Yadiel Cruz hit two free throws with 2.9 seconds left in overtime to give Reading High a 55-54 win over Cumberland Valley and its third straight district title. It had trailed by five with 5:30 to go in regulation.

After winning their first four state playoff games by an average of 25.8 points, the Red Knights faced a stiff test in defending champ Roman Catholic.

The Cahillites featured two players who had committed to play at Saint Joseph's and another Division I prospect in 6-7 forward Shareef Jackson, the son of former Temple star and Philadelphia 76er Marc Jackson.

Roman Catholic was bigger and arguably more talented. But Reading High had that trademark tenaciousness.

The Red Knights forced 17 turnovers (while committing 12), had 14 offensive rebounds (compared to 10 for the Cahillites) and had a 27-25 rebounding edge. They had 17 second-chance points, compared to 12 for Roman.

Roman had a chance to win it when Xzayzier Brown, one of those Saint Joe's commits, went to the line with 1.7 seconds left in regulation and his team down one. He missed the first free throw before making the second to tie it.

Reading High scored the game's final nine points, helped by a pair of steals in the final seconds and a dunk by Aris Rodriguez as time expired.

"I don't even know; it doesn't feel real," said Ruben Rodriguez, who was voted the state Class 6A Player of the Year. "You know, it's just a blessing to be here and beating a team like that."

"Ruben told me in the beginning of the year, he said, 'Are you ready to coach your greatest basketball team ever?' " Perez said. "I said, 'Okay, well you're going to have to do some crazy stuff to be the best ever.' "

That they did.

2. Lynx win state title

There was plenty of emotion after Oley Valley won the PIAA Class 1A field hockey title with a stunning 4-3 win over Lackawanna Trail last month.

The Lynx rallied after falling behind 3-1 with six minutes left in the third quarter to win the program's third state championship and first since 2000.

But there was more to it than that.

Oley coach Tiffany Cappellano was diagnosed with breast cancer in early March. She underwent biotherapy throughout most of the season, except for a break in September when she had a double mastectomy.

Remarkably, she missed just one week of the season.

"What she went through, it's hard to imagine how hard it is and hard to imagine her keeping her job and then also going right from work to practice while going through everything that she was going through," said senior captain Morgan Snyder.

Snyder and her teammates showed their support for Cappellano in multiple ways. The seniors designed T-shirts that they wore during warmups that were black with pink lettering. A breast cancer ribbon was printed on the left sleeve.

Many of the players also wore pink hair ties or scrunchies with the breast cancer ribbon in white.

They also honored their coach through their resilience and tenacity.

"Coach fights through her journey," said senior captain Molly Rothenberger, "which just shows us that we have to fight, too."

They certainly did against Lackawanna Trail.

Despite controlling play for much of the way — the Lynx finished with advantages of 15-4 in shots and 16-3 in corners — they had to battle back after falling behind 1-0, then 3-1.

A goal by Taylor Vaccaro cut it to 3-2 with 2:05 left in the third, then Rothenberger tied with 5:29 left.

Snyder made the tiebreaking penalty stroke with 3:43 left.

Soon after, the Lynx, who finished 27-1-1, were collecting their medals from their third championship of the season after also winning Berks and District 3 titles.

"A few of them said to me, 'This one was for you Coach,' " Cappellano said. "That, of course, just tugged on my heartstrings."

3. Exeter's special season

Anthony Caccese was literally and figuratively at the center of so much of Exeter's success in basketball during the 2022-23 season.

So it's only fitting that his maturity left an indelible impression at the end of the Eagles' historic and magical season.

After Exeter, making its first appearance in a state final since 1974, lost to Imhotep Charter 78-40 in the PIAA Class 5A championship game in March, the 6-7 Caccesse put it into perspective while holding the second-place trophy.

"I'll take it," Caccese said. "I mean, they're a really good team. A lot of people are down but I definitely take it as an accomplishment to be second place to that team."

That team, Imhotep, was the defending champ, ranked 11th in the nation by ESPN and featured forward Justin Edwards, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2023 and now a freshman at Kentucky.

By any measure, it was an exceptional season for the Eagles.

Just two years after finishing 3-14, Exeter went 27-7, won its first division title since 1984, made its first Berks Conference final since 1974 (losing 70-63 to Reading High) and won its first District 3 title (beating Manheim Central 67-53 in the final).

"This was one of the most special experiences of my life," said Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft, who was voted the state Class 5A Coach of the Year then resigned in May, citing the need to spend more time with his family.

One thing that made it so special was the way the Eagles played. They were balanced and unselfish.

Caccese, a second-team All-State pick at center who averaged 13.1 points per game, was one of four starters to average at least 10 points. Reece Garvin averaged 11.3, Kevin Saenz 11.1 and Zyion Paschall, a third-team All-State selection at guard, 10.3.

The contributions came from up and down the roster.

"A whole lot of good memories, man," Caccese said. "And you know, it just goes to show you that if you work hard, you can do anything. I'll bet you nobody thought we'd make it this far in the beginning season. Without a shadow of a doubt, no one thought we'd make this one. But look at what we did. We put in the work. We played as a team and we beat a lot of good teams, so it just goes to show."

4. History for Kutztown U. football

The Kutztown University football team lost its season opener and its starting quarterback, Donny Blaine, to injury at No. 23 Assumption. A week later, the Golden Bears lost again.

So much for those lofty preseason expectations. Or so it seemed.

But Kutztown, powered by a defense that led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in scoring defense and was second in total defense, went on a historic run that ended with a 35-7 loss at top-ranked and top-seeded Colorado School of Mines in the NCAA Division II semifinals.

"With success, we got hungrier," said linebacker Kam Wolf, a Gov. Mifflin grad. "We didn't get complacent."

In the process of winning division, conference and regional titles and getting to their first Final Four — and first game west of the Mississippi River — the Golden Bears set a slew of records.

They won 12 games, setting marks for most wins in a season and most consecutive wins in a season.

They beat four ranked teams in a row. The first, a 31-7 victory over No. 4 Slippery Rock in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship Game, was the highest ranked opponent KU had beaten in school history.

In the NCAA playoffs, a strong running game and efficient play from redshirt freshman quarterback Judd Novak, the PSAC East Freshman of the Year, complemented the defense.

That led to victories over No. 13 Virginia Union, at No. 24 Charleston (W.Va.) — when Kutztown scored the game's final 15 points in the final four minutes to win 32-31 — and at No. 15 Slippery Rock.

The Golden Bears finished seventh in the final American Football Coaches Association Division II poll, the highest final ranking in program history.

"It's pretty amazing," coach Jim Clements said in the days before the team flew to Colorado. "This is a really good group of kids and coaches that really bought into what we're doing."

5. Rick Perez resigns

The news broke late on a Friday afternoon in October, and created a buzz at high school football games that night: Rick Perez, who led the Reading High boys basketball team to three state championships, including one in March, was resigning as Red Knights coach.

He announced his resignation in an email sent to the Reading High Squires Club and also posted a video to his Instagram account.

"Thank you Reading High basketball, thank you for the best 21 years of my life," Perez said in the video. "Thank you for loving me unconditionally, supporting me and always having my back."

A day later, Perez said he would be an assistant coach under lifelong friend Matt Flowers at Muhlenberg, the school district where he lives.

Perez's son, Jadin, is a sophomore on the Muhls' basketball and football teams. He also has another son and a daughter who are in middle school in the district.

"As the years went on, I started to see the writing on the wall," Perez said that day. "Not only do I say family, I believe in it, and I live it wholeheartedly. And that (Muhlenberg) is where my family is now."

Perez compiled a 281-74 record in 12 seasons with the Red Knights. He broke Jim Gano's school record with his 252nd victory in a win over Cardinal O'Hara last December.

In addition to the three state titles — the program's first in 2017, 2021 and last season — Perez also won six Berks Conference titles and five District 3 championships.

He was named PIAA Class 6A Coach of the Year by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers following each state championship season.

His final game as coach ended up being a 63-56 overtime victory over Roman Catholic in the state final on March 25 at Hershey's Giant Center, which capped a 32-1 season that also included county and district titles.

6. Chad Henne retires

Chad Henne knows how to make an exit.

The Wilson grad and quarterback announced his retirement from the NFL on Instagram after his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in the Super Bowl.

"Calling it a career," he posted.

The post included a picture of a smiling Henne in uniform on the field, a championship T-shirt in one hand and a Bud Light in the other, and continued: "Capping it off with @budlight and another ring #superbowlchamps #chiefs

Henne ended his career with two Super Bowl championships; he also was part of the Chiefs team that won following the 2019 season.

He spent 15 seasons in the NFL after being selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft, 57th overall, out of Michigan.

He spent four seasons (2008-11) with Miami, then six with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2012-17).

He played his final five seasons with Kansas City, backing up Patrick Mahomes.

In his career, Henne completed 59.6% of his passes for 13,290 yards with 60 touchdowns and 63 interceptions. He appeared in 78 games, 54 of them starts.

Though he walked away from the NFL, he didn't walk away from football.

In the fall, he was a volunteer assistant coach at Wilson, working with the quarterbacks and the offense as a whole.

"I think I have too much knowledge to give up and just not be around it, to just sit at home and not speak my word," Henne said in September. "That's why I got involved here. Just so much knowledge that I can give back to our kids."

7. Rodriguez hits 2,000

The situation never seemed too big for Ruben Rodriguez when he was on the basketball court for Reading High.

Such was the case in the PIAA Class 6A semifinals against Spring-Ford.

Rodriguez scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, 11 in the fourth quarter, to become just the seventh player in Berks history to score 2,000 career points.

"Honestly, it's a blessing," Rodriguez, a guard, said following the 55-32 win. "I want to thank my family, and all my friends. My teammates at the end, once they saw me getting close, they just started giving me the ball. So that goes to show our selflessness and that's what I love about them."

Rodriguez, who came into the game needing 20 points for the milestone, entered the final quarter with 1,989 points. History still appeared to be a longshot.

But the Rams kept fouling Rodriguez, and he kept making his free throws (7-of-8 in the quarter, 9-of-10 in the game).

He hit a running jumper in the paint with just under two minutes to go to join the club that is made up of West Reading's Ron Krick (3,174), Tulpehocken's Charlie Copp (2,440), Conrad Weiser's Keith Bricker (2,221), Wilson's Stevie Mitchell (2,060), Hamburg's Jarrad Gruber (2,014) and Hamburg's Aaron Williamson (2,012).

Rodriguez, who scored 288 points as a freshman at Muhlenberg and 1,720 for Reading High, finished with 2,008 points.

"Ruben's magical," Reading High coach Rick Perez said after the win over Spring-Ford. "Anything he does never surprises anybody. Anymore, he just always finds a way to prevail. He's a winner; a born winner."

8. Tragedy at Duryea Hillclimb

A Chester County man was killed while competing on the first day of the Duryea Hillclimb after hitting a tree during the race on Mount Penn in Reading.

Kihurani Gakuu, 66, of East Caln Township was pronounced dead by Deputy Coroner Jason Kantner at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19.

Gakuu died of a head injury, and the death was ruled an accident, the coroner's office said.

The accident occurred during single-car time trials near the 11th turn on the Skyline Drive portion of the 2.25-mile course.

The second day of the event was canceled.

The death was the second during the history of the event, which has been held annually since 1951 except for 1979 (gas crisis) and 2020 (COVID)..

In 1978, Samson Osborn was killed in an accident when he hit a tree on the 11th turn.

9. A title for KU field hockey

Even two days later, the accomplishment was somewhat hard to believe.

The Kutztown field hockey team was being honored on campus for winning the school's first team NCAA national championship with a 2-1 victory over defending champ and top-seeded East Stroudsburg in the Division II final last month at Manchester, N.H.

"People say when this happens, it's the most unbelievable feeling you'll ever feel," coach Marci Scheuing said following the ceremony. "It truly is. It also feels surreal. I keep saying to my assistant (Oley Valley grad Amber Auchenbach), 'Did this really happen?' And she keeps saying, 'Yes.' And then she'll ask me 10 minutes later, 'Did this really happen?' And I say, 'Yes.'

"It's all the hours of hard work and just recruiting and individual sessions and team practices and lifts and study halls. It's everything into one because we always say how you do anything is how you do everything. And it's just unbelievable. I can't explain how it feels, but it is a feeling like I've never felt before."

Making it all the more special is that the on-campus celebration happened a year to the day after the Golden Bears had been unexpectedly left out of the NCAA playoffs.

"That was really heartbreaking last year," said Sarah Gatehouse, a senior team captain, defender and Wilson grad. "Honestly, I think that needed to happen for this to happen. So looking at the big picture, I think that was really our biggest motivation this year. We started the term 'KU vs. everyone' last year, and we really wanted to prove everyone wrong. And we accomplished that this year."

The Golden Bears completed a 19-3 season by coming back against the Warriors, who scored just 2:17 in. Greenleigh McGehee scored the game-winner with 8:33 left.

"I absolutely believe everything happens for a reason," Scheuing said. "And I think last year happened so this year could."

10. Recognition for girls wrestling

In September 2020, Gov. Mifflin became the first school district in Berks County and the sixth in the state to approve girls wrestling.

Mustangs girls coach Kevin Ochs figured it would take at least five years for girls wrestling to be recognized by the PIAA.

It took less than three.

Girls wrestling hit the threshold of 100 schools set by the PIAA for official recognition in February. The PIAA unanimously voted to sanction girls wrestling for the 2023-24 school year in May.

"It's exciting," Ochs said soon after Pennridge became the 100th school district to approve girls wrestling. "It's great. It's good for wrestling, boys and girls. It takes it to the next level."

Berks schools were at the forefront of the movement, which was led by SanctionPA.

In addition to Mifflin, nine other Berks schools have girls wrestling: Brandywine Heights, Exeter, Berks Catholic, Wyomissing, Boyertown, Reading High, Hamburg, Schuylkill Valley and Wilson.

The first PIAA-sanctioned state girls tournament will be held March 7-9 at Hershey's Giant Center, the same days the Class 2A and Class 3A championships are being held at the arena.

Also receiving votes

Conrad Weiser's Emma Perkins became just the third girl in Berks high school tennis history to win four straight BCIAA Flight 1 singles titles. She also won the District 3 Class 2A title and finished second in the state.

Rick Keeley retired as the football coach at Berks Catholic after compiling a 280-160-3 record in 38 seasons as head coach at Holy Name, Hamburg and with the Saints.

Gov. Mifflin senior Jayleah Pletz won her third girls wrestling state championship, earning gold at 106 pounds at the MyHouse Girls State Wrestling Championships. She won state titles at 101 pounds as a freshman and sophomore, then finished second at 106 as a junior.

Matt Ashcroft resigned as boys basketball coach following Exeter's historic season. He went 56-45 in four seasons.

Mike Miller retired as head men's basketball coach at Alvernia. In 19 seasons, he compiled a 316-178 record, won four MAC Commonwealth and two Pennsylvania Athletic Conference championships and produced six NCAA Division III Tournament appearances.

Center fielder Johan Rojas, who was promoted from Double-A Reading in July, and reliever Orion Kerkering, who pitched 21 games for the Fightin Phils, helped the Philadelphia Phillies reach the National League Championship Series.

Jake Karnish became the all-time leading scorer in Fleetwood boys basketball history, scoring 23 points in a win over Brandywine Heights to surpass David Angstadt's mark of 1,201 by one point. Karnish finished his career with 1,420 points.

Kutztown University product Jerome Kapp, a Boyertown grad, signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets and was cut at the end of training camp.

Daniel Boone grad Chris Guiliano, now a junior at Notre Dame, qualified for the world swimming championships by finishing second in the 100-meter freestyle at U.S. swimming nationals. He won a bronze medal at worlds as a member of the 4×100 free relay team.

Antietam senior Ayden Davis won the boys title at the Pennsylvania State High School Bowling Championships in March, less than two months after his father, Eric, passed away from septic shock at the age of 48.