Top-seeded Berks Catholic defeated eighth-seeded Bishop McDevitt 51-32 in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinals game Thursday night at Wolf Gymnasium.
The Saints advance to play fifth-seeded Susquehanna Township (15-7) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Monday at home.
On a night when Berks County Player of the Year Kingston McKoy was held to just three points, a young rising star stepped up for the Saints.
To begin the game the Saints (19-4) could not buy their first basket to get on the scoreboard.
But luckily for Berks Catholic the Crusaders (10-11) also struggled to find the bottom of the basket early in the first.
It took over five minutes before Saints’ Brady Altimar got his team’s offense going with a three-pointer from the left wing.
“They showed us a triangle and 2 (zone defense) and some of the guys that are normally open were hesitant to shoot and when we did shoot we didn’t make any” Saints coach Snip Esterly said of the early struggles.
On the next possession down after a Crusaders miss, Altimar hit his second three-pointer from the same exact spot on the floor to take a 6-3 lead.
However, the Saints scored just once more in the first half, with a basket from freshman Carmelo Harper off the bench.
Trailing 10-8 early in the second quarter, the offensive struggles continued as they went three minutes without scoring.
McKoy was fouled in the paint, went to the line, and sank two free throws to get things started.
Crusaders’ Pat Denisco, who had a team-high 12 points, got a floater to fall to take a 12-10 lead.
Zach Suski then grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup. The senior followed up by hitting a left-corner three-pointer off a McKoy assist to take the lead.
The three-pointers kept coming as Harper joined in, sinking shots from the top of the key and the right corner.
Berks Catholic led 21-16 at halftime behind Harper’s eight points.
“He felt really bad about the last game we played,” Esterly said referring to the BCIAA playoff loss to Reading High. “He felt like he didn’t play a lot and he took that very hard. He talked to him, sat him down and he responded so well. For him to come out and do that as a freshman in a district playoff game that’s very phenomenal.”
In the second half, the three-pointers continued to fall as the Crusaders’ zone defense left the Saints wide open on the wings and corners, allowing for plenty of ball movement.
“No, I wasn’t expecting it,” Harper said of the Crusaders’ zone defense. “It’s a new zone for us, so it was kind of weird seeing it happen.”
Johnny Giesa hit the first three-pointer from the left corner off an Altimar assist.
The Crusaders closed the gap to a one-possession game with an 8-3 run, but Harper extended the lead back to six with another three-pointer.
“I just wanted to get the win but most importantly, wanted my teammates to be happy rather than what it was last time because when we were in the locker room last time it wasn’t very happy because we took the loss,” Harper said. “We had to keep our heads up and keep pushing.”
To end the third, Bryce Gumby came off the bench and hit a three from deep off a McKoy assist to take a 33-24 lead.
The Crusaders continued to struggle against the Saints’ stellar defense as the deficit grew.
“It was great defense today, everyone stepped up to the plate and played hard, especially the people coming off the bench,” Harper said.
Berks Catholic held Bishop McDevitt to under 10 points in every quarter and outrebounded the Crusaders 40-22.
“That’s the best defense we played all year, it really is,” Esterly said.
Harper finished with a career-high 15 points. Altimar had 12 and Suski had 11.
Source: Berkshire mont
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