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PIAA Boys 6A Quarter-final Recap (Scranton vs. Reading)
 

PIAA Boys 6A Quarter-final Recap (Scranton vs. Reading)

Written by: Jon K on March 21, 2021

 

 

March 20, 2021

 

Scranton Falls to Reading in Boys 6A Quarterfinals

 

Reading 68, Scranton 53

 

By. Phil T.

READING –  Scranton’s incredible season came to an end in the quarter-final round of the PIAA Boys 6A state playoffs.  Reading, every bit as good as advertised, jumped out early using runs of 10-1 and 10-3 in the opening half as they built their lead en route to a 68-53 victory to advance to the semi-finals where they will face Upper St. Clair, on Tuesday, with a trip to Saturday’s state championship at Hershey on the line.

Rene Rodriguez and Marty Crafton traded triples to open the game, but that would be the last tie of the game as Reading found their rhythm and began to pull ahead.  The Red Knights got three triples, from three different players, and used a 10-1 run to take a 13-4 lead six minutes into the match.  Buckets from Jason Shields and Kevin Lazdowsky would pull Scranton within five points at the end of the first period, but Reading answered back again to start the second quarter.

Reading then began to get got their 6’6” forward, West Chester commit, more involved after the opening stanza as Moro Osumanu led his team on a 10-3 run.  Osumanu scored half of his team’s 16 points in the period, including giving the Red Knights a double-digit lead that lasted until the final quarter, as Reading took a 29-19 advantage into the halftime locker rooms at half.  Scranton was able to keep this one within reach as they kept pace with Reading, scoring 6 points to close out the half.

Keeping with the theme of the game, the Red Knights sprinted to another run, 9-2, to start the second half as they built their largest lead of the game at 17 points.  Shields fought to keep the Knights in the game scoring seven points as Scranton ended the period on a 12-6 rally.

In the final stanza Scranton failed to make any significant dent into the Reading lead.  An offensive rebound and layup from Arvel Chandler with 1:15 remaining in the game cut the lead to nine points, but Scranton would fail to score again as Reading completed their victory.

Moro Osumanu and Daniel Alcantara both recorded a double-double in the Red Knight’s victory.  Osumanu finished with 21 points and 12 boards while Alcantara totaled 12 points with 11 rebounds.  Ruben Rodriguez added 16 points to help send his team to the state semi-finals.

Jason Shields scored a game-high 27 points, including 17 points in the second half, in Scranton’s season-ending loss.

 

Special thanks to the Berks Catholic Athletic Department for allowing LLHoops cover this game.

 

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