Sellout Crowd Sees Reading Edge PIne-Richland for Boys 6-A State Title

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, March 25, 2017 | 11:45 PM

The Giant Center in Hershey officially holds 10,500 attendees. It was near max capacity (9,531) for the PIAA Class 6A Boys Basketball Championship on Saturday night, and approximately 80% were supporting the Reading Red Knights.  Nearly 8,000 fans dressed in red, but it was one red-clad player in particular who caused the havoc against Pine-Richland.  Miami commit Lonnie Walker led his team in every major statistical category en route to a 64-60 Reading victory in a back-and-forth instant classic.

Pine-Richland embraced the hostile atmosphere from the moment they stepped onto the court, and used that as motivation towards a quick start at opening tip. Four different Rams scored in the first quarter. Their defense particularly was efficient early, forcing contested shots for a hyped up Reading team playing in what felt like a home game.  After the media timeout, the Red Knights went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-6 lead. After an Andrew Kristofic layup cut the lead to three with 1:00 left in the quarter, Reading held the ball and waited for the last shot. Walker drew a foul and converted two free throws with two seconds left, giving the Red Knights a 13-8 lead after one.

The Rams came out strong in the second quarter with a 9-2 run, highlighted by a three-pointer by Sean Colosimo off of the bench and a couple of put-backs by Kristofic. Reading’s pressure defense then stepped up the intensity, forcing turnovers and leading to transition buckets. Jose Genao-Batista began to heat up from beyond the arc in the second quarter as well for the Red Knights. He scored 7 of his 14 points off of the bench in the second stanza. Lonnie Walker’s layup with four seconds remaining tied the game at 28-28.

Phil Jurkovec, the Notre Dame football recruit at quarterback, took the ball out of bounds and threw a Hail Mary pass the length of the court on the inbounds play.  His pass was overthrown, out of the reach of his intended target in Kristofic. However, Greg Shulkosky ran down the overthrown pass and got the layup off and in before the buzzer sounded, giving Pine-Richland  the 30-28 lead at the half.

More back-and-forth action continued after the intermission.  Pine-Richland switched to a box-and-one defense against Walker to start the third quarter, and Reading responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Tyrone Neby and Wesley Butler to give Reading a 34-30 advantage. A three from Andrew Petcash and a layup from Jurkovec gave the Rams a three point lead, but Reading again responded, this time with a 9-0 run. Nesby, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored seven of those nine points in the run.

With a four point lead, Reading again decided to take the air out of the ball and run out the final 1:40 of the third quarter. Walker held the ball at half court for the final 100 seconds, made his move at the four second mark, spun through the lane and got the layup to fall at the buzzer to give Reading a 45-41 advantage.

Walker then took over for the Red Knights, who started to pull away. Reading started the fourth quarter by again holding the ball.  “We had to extend our defense,” Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackerman acknowledged after the game, and it opened up driving lanes for Walker to score and dish to open teammates on the perimeter.

Isiah Cook’s three pointer with 4:30 remaining extended the Reading lead to seven, and it felt like the contest had been decided.  But, yet again, Pine-Richland responded. Colosimo drilled a three, then found Evan Luellen for a transition layup seconds later to cut the lead back to two at 54-52.  But Reading responded, rattling off a quick 7-0 run over the next two minutes, including a Lonnie Walker tomahawk dunk that brought the PIAA Championship record crowd to their feet.

Trailing by nine with less than a minute to play, again the Rams would not admit defeat. After a turnover and a Rausch three cut the lead to five with 12 seconds left, hope still remained. However, Reading would hit their free throws and hang on to a 64-60 victory, securing their first PIAA Championship in program history.

Coach Ackerman had said after their semifinal victory that his squad is tough to beat when they get four players in double figures. The Rams did just that, led by Phil Jurkovec’s 14 points and six rebounds. Andrew Petcash scored 11 points and dished out 5 assists.  Sean Colosimo also scored 11 off of the bench. Nolan Rausch joined with 10 points, and Andrew Kristofic supplied eight points and eight rebounds. As a team, the Rams shot 56% from the field, and assisted on 18 of their 23 made field goals.

Reading’s Lonnie Walker lead the team with a game-high 22 points. He also led his team in rebounds with eight, steals with four, and assists with three.  Jose Genao-Batista supplied 14 points off of the bench, and Tyrone Nesby chipped in with 11 markers.  Reading (30-3)was 13-15 from the charity stripe, including 5-6 in the final minute of play.

While Pine-Richland’s season ends at 28-2 with a disappointing defeat, not enough can be said about the guts of the group of unselfish players who took the court playing for a state championship with a hostile environment that made it feel like an away game. Congratulations to Coach Ackerman and the Pine-Richland Rams on an incredible season, a WPIAL Championship, and a trip to Hershey for the first time in program history.

Score by Quarter:
Pine-Richland         8   –   22   –   11   –   19   —   60
Reading                13   –   15   –   19   –   17   —   64