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Saturday, March 1, 2008
High School Sports The Magazine's 10 Best berks County Boys Basketball Teams
Greater Reading, PA
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We’ve seen a lot of great basketball this season but these 10 teams were voted the best in the county by the HSSTM staff. Look for our girl’s ranking next month
#10 – With an overall record of 12 and 12, the Scouts from Conrad Weiser occupy the 10th position in our ranking. Led by Derek Long’s 246 points (14.7ppg), Conrad Weiser split with division II foe Muhlenberg while taking two from Twin Valley and Fleetwood. The Scouts fell just short in their two contests against division champion Daniel Boone and lost a heartbreaker at Exeter 63 to 62. Their 6 and 6 league record was good enough to tie Muhlenberg for the division’s second spot, but the Muhls advanced to the county playoffs after being awarded the 5th division tie-break. Tim Weiser averaged 8.8ppg and Sam Stoppi, 9.2ppg . The Scouts were without Long for 8 games after he broke his foot early in the game against Oley (3rd game of season).
#9– The Eagles from High Point compete in the Atlantic Coast Christian Athletic Conference (ACCAC), but head coach Randy Stone and the boys from Geigertown went outside their league for big wins against Holy Name, Oley, and Antietam to solidify their spot in our top 10. The Eagles placed three of their players in the Berks top 15 in scoring. Dathan Marshall (18.6ppg), Josh Conover (14.7ppg), and Jon Conover (13.8ppg) paced High Point to a league record of 6 wins and 1 loss and an overall record of 19 and 2.
#8 - Muhlenberg was in a battle for their playoff lives all season. They finished with a strong 16 and 7 non-league record but their league record of 6 up and 6 down left them fighting Conrad Weiser all season. They had a big league win at Wilson and split with Conrad Weiser. They also split with Exeter, winning a non-league contest on the Eagles court before losing to them in a league match-up at home. Senior Derek Zeller lead the league in scoring with 457 points and was 2nd in points per game, averaging 19.9. Guard Kevin Botch notched 39 three–pointers and racked up 226 total points for the Muhls. Taylor Graeff averaged 8 points per game and finished with 175 points.
#7 - Division III’s lone representative in our top 10 comes from Leesport. The Schuylkill Valley Panthers recorded 16 total wins against only 6 loses. Their 11 and 2 league record clearly outpaced the rest of Division III. They beat all of their Division opponents twice and lost only to Holy Name and Wyomissing (44 to 42) in Division IV. In non-league action the Panthers had a big win against Conrad Weiser and lost a squeaker to Exeter 58 to 57. Three seniors led the way for Schuylkill Valley. Dan Cieniewicz averaged 13.5 points per game and finished with 298. Matt Modrick hit 30 threes while totaling 263 points and averaging 12 per game and Jordan Sands tallied 185 points while averaging 8.5 per game. The Panthers defense was the toughest statistically in Berks County, yielding their opponents a miniscule 935 total points for an average of only 42.5 per game.
#6 - They say it’s tough to beat the same opponent three times in a season and that proved true for Wyomissing (11-2/16-7). The Spartans lost the Division IV title 48 to 46 in a tie break against Holy Name after beating the Jays convincingly in the two previous contests. The Spartans demonstrated their commitment to team defense by allowing only 1,003 total points this season (2nd best in Division III/IV). They lost by a margin of over 10 points only once, a 47 to 34 loss at the hands of the Central Catholic Cardinals. The Cards accounted for both of Wyomissing’s two league losses. Clayton Bodden’s 258 total points /11.7 ppg paced the Spartans. Kemian Flowers and Jon Baker followed closely with 252 total points/11.4 ppg and 231 total points/10.5 ppg respectively.
#5 - It’s pretty clear that the boys in Birdsboro can shoot. The Blazers scored 1,498 points which was 2nd only to Reading High. Daniel Boone was the only team to place two players in the county’s top ten in points per game average. Jeff Sowers averaged 16.6 ppg while Dan Sekulski averaged 16.5 ppg. These two seniors scored 383 and 380 points respectively leading Daniel Boone to a 10 – 2 league record and a 19 – 4 overall mark. Sowers was also among the leaders in 3 pointers with 35. It wasn’t all Sowers and Sekulski, however, as senior Jimmy McCarthy poured in 236 points for the Blazers. Ending the season with 7 straight wins and beating division rivals Conrad Weiser and Muhlenberg two times each gave Daniel Boone all the room they would need to easily lock up the Berks Division II title. This coming on the heels of last season’s 10 and 13 record was a pleasant surprise.
#4 - Holy Name’s only two league losses (11-2) came at the hands of the boys from Wyomissing. The Spartans seemed to have the Blue Jays number, beating them by a comfortable 10 points in December and then by 21 points on January 24 at Wyo. The Blue Jays would end the season with three straight wins, however, including a huge 48 to 46 victory over Wyomissing in a tie break to decide the Division IV regular season champion. Other big wins came against Schuylkill Valley and Conrad Weiser on their way to a 19 and 4 overall record. Ryan McFarland led the Blue Jays with 311 total points while Eric Angstadt (278), Jeremy Beckett (192), and Devon Armstrong (189) followed. Coach Tony Balistrere sites the Blue Jays team chemistry and work ethic, and has been particularly impressed with McFarland and Armstrong. “Players like Ryan and Devon worked extremely hard and played well together. They both understand their role which is why the team has been successful”.
#3 - Although Exeter didn’t make the Berks playoffs, their tremendous turnaround from last year’s 5 and 15 season kept the Eagles in the hunt till late in the season. A 5 and 6 league record fell just short for a berth in counties but their 12 wins and just 8 losses qualified Exeter for the District 3 playoffs. The Eagles were led by junior Yovonny Santana (14.4ppg) who recorded 295 points, 105 of those from beyond the arc. Senior Jon May averaged 13ppg and scored 247 of Exeter’s 1,076 points, while Eric Thompson scored 204 points. Their stingy defense allowed only 1,086 points, good for 2nd best in Berks I and Berks II. Finishing the season with 3 straight losses and 4 out of 5 cost Exeter any chance at the Berks I runner up spot, but that didn’t detract from the great season they put together.
#2 - On the western side of Berks, the defending county champions from Wilson went 7 up and 4 down in Berks’ league action and posted a 12 and 11 overall record. A huge 61 to 51 win at Exeter on January 25 avenged an earlier loss to the Eagles at home and was part of a strong end of season run. The Bulldogs won 6 of their last 8 league contests which propelled them into sole possession of the Berks I runner-up spot. Chris Hartzell had 242 of Wilson’s 1,109 points. Tyler Beck and Mark Daniels followed Hartzell with 181 and 172 points respectively. Wilson’s 1,041 total points allowed was a Berks Division I and Division II best.
#1 - The Reading High Red Knights have been the talk of Berks basketball all season. They cut through their schedule with ease on their way to a perfect 23 and 0 regular season (11-0 League), outscoring their opponents by a whopping 648 points. Their largest margin of victory was 54 points while their closest game against a Berks’ opponent was a 56 to 50 win over Wilson way back on December 6. Jordan Burdine finished 4th in league points per game averaging 17.8. He was deadly from the outside nailing 44 – 3 pointers, good for 3rd in that category. The Red Knights were not a one man show, however. Jordan received plenty of help from Trenity Burdine (14 ppg), Justin Rodriguez (13 ppg), and Jermaine Jackson (12 ppg). A strong bench consisting of Nelson Leon and Jordan Merriweather was especially welcome when the Knights had to play 4 straight games down the stretch without Jordan Burdine.
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