BERKS CATHOLIC RACES PAST VALLEY VIEW 56-36

Written by: Bruce Badgley on March 14, 2018

Well we are way past big speech time for most coaches with teams still playing in the PIAA tournament.  For Valley View and Berks Catholic both came into the PIAA 4A matchup Tuesday from entirely different directions.  BC highly favored struggled in their first round matchup. Valley View came in following an impressive win.  Legendary Berwick High hosted this matchup and despite the Valley View Cougars best efforts, Berks Catholic proved to tough.  The Saints came away with a 56-36 win Tuesday night.

Luis Garcia just played lights out all over the court for Berks Catholic.   Garcia’s 20 points led all scorers.  Keba Mitchell just controlled the paint with block after block, rebound after rebound.  Keba also had 14 points.  Jaden Duplessis had a sold effort for Valley View with 17 points.

Clearly each team had the jitters to start the game.  It was only 5-3 Cougars 6 minutes into the game.  A Casey Jack steal and awesome bounce pass assist to Tre Dabney as the quarter ended made it 10-7 BC after one.  Despite some very nice efforts by Keba Mitchell and Luis Garcia, BC cold not shake Valley View until down the stretch in quarter two.  Berks Catholic had played very well but had only a 23-13 lead at the half.

Berks Catholic never let Valley View feel they could get back into the game.  But the Cougars never let up.  Valley View  did  throw a few good runs at the Saints in quarter three.  After three quarters BC held a 39-28 lead.  The fourth quarter was all Berks Catholic.  Solid offensive sets coupled with good free throw shooting made the final Berks Catholic 56 Valley View 36.  The win for BC tied a school record for most wins in a season with 28.  The Saints now face Bethlehem Catholic Friday in the next round as a site to be determined.

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