PHILADELPHIA – Basketball is a game of runs. And one scoring run proved to be too much for Archbishop Ryan to overcome.
You can usually point to one play that can all of the sudden lead to a run for a team and that was no different in this game. The Raiders held a 27-16 lead with three minutes left in the second quarter, and senior forward Matiss Kulackovskis was called for charge that wiped away a basket that would have extended the Raiders lead to 29-16.
Reading then went on a 13-0 run over those final couple of minutes to take a 29-27 halftime lead. They also opened up the second half with six straight points and a Wesley Butler bucket capped off a 19-0 run that gave Reading a 35-27 lead just a couple minutes into the third quarter.
That run proved too much for the Raiders to overcome as they fell to Reading by a final score of 57-51.
Coming into the game everyone knew the matchup to watch would be Archbishop Ryan’s senior guard Izaiah Brockington, an NJIT commit, up against Reading star guard Lonnie Walker, a Miami (FL) commit, and one of the top players in this whole class.
Reading celebrates their victory - PSD photo by Jacob Guzdek
Walker poured in 35 points on 13-21 from the floor, 3-6 from three, and 6-7 from the free throw line, to lead Reading. He scored 15 of his 35 points in the second quarter, including 13 of the 19 points in that 19-0 run Reading went on.
“Once Walker got rolling it was just tough to slow him down and I think that huge run just stunned our team and we just couldn’t recover from it,” Raiders head coach Joe Zeglinski said.
Brockington was going bucket for bucket with Walker early on and he finished the night with 16 points on 7-14 from the field to lead the Raiders.
Lonnie Walker opens scoring for Reading in the 1st quarter
Izaiah Brockington makes a monster dunk early in the second quarter
“It was good to have a game here at home in Philadelphia because in the earlier rounds we were traveling to places we hadn’t even heard of,” Brockington said. “Just to have my last game be here in my hometown is something I will always remember.”
It was an electric crowd from the tip-off to the final buzzer. Both schools fan bases came out in full support with the Raiders playing in their hometown and Reading with one of the best traveling fan bases in Pennsylvania. Reading fans capped off the night by throwing Hershey kisses onto the floor as the Red Knights advanced to the class 6A state championship game which will be played in Hershey.
Ryan's Fred Taylor blocks Lonnie Walker.
Lonnie Walker opens the 2nd with a dunk.
The Raiders offense opened up the game on fire and held a 17-8 lead after one and got their lead as large as 27-16 in the second quarter. They were clicking on offense and senior center Fred Taylor was locking down the lane on defense as he finished the first half with six blocks. He finished the game with six points, eight rebounds and seven blocks.
The Raiders only scored six points over the next eleven minutes of action that spanned from the three-minute mark of the second quarter through the whole third quarter.
“During that stretch our offense just wasn’t anything like the offense we had in our previous couple of games and early in this game,” Zeglinski said. “We became real stagnant and we were playing on our heels and just not attacking the way we know we can.”
PIAA 6A Semifinal
The Raiders went into the fourth quarter down 40-33 and found themselves down as much as 14 in the fourth when it was 49-35. They were finally able to find some offense again about halfway through the quarter as they started to drain in some three pointers, but it was too little, too late.
Ryan got it down to 55-51 with about 20 seconds left after a Kulackovskis three pointer, but that’s as close as they were able to get.
Kulackovskis finished with 13 points and six rebounds while going 3-6 from three point range. And sophomore guard Amin Bryant chipped in eight points and six rebounds for the Raiders.
“This group of guys shouldn’t hang their heads, they should just be very proud of what they accomplished this season,” Zeglinski said. “We came up a little short, but they really put Ryan basketball on the map.”
Reading will move on to play Pine Richland in the PIAA 6A state final on Saturday at 8PM at the Hershey Giant Center.