CB West rallies to stun defending champ Reading in OT in PIAA-6A 2nd round

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BETHLEHEM >> Wesley Butler raced out for a transition layup, drew a foul and when he completed the 3-point play, Reading had a nine-point lead on Central Bucks West in the fourth quarter and the Red Knights looked on their way to continuing their state title defense.

But there was still 2:11 left on the clock.

“We never lost our confidence,” Bucks senior Jake Reichwein said. “We looked for the shots that we practice and And they finally went in. We never stopped.”

In those 131 seconds, with a season on the line Wednesday night in the PIAA Class 6A second round contest, the CB West boys basketball scored nine straight points then held Reading on the final possession of regulation to force overtime.

The Bucks proceeded to dominate the extra period, pulling away at the foul line to knock out the defending champs with a 60-47 victory in front of a heavy Reading crowd at Liberty High School’s Memorial Gymnasium.

“All year long we’ve been trying to tell these guys to focus on the next play. Not hold on to plays and I’m so proud of this group, they really just focused on the next play and didn’t let plays linger,” CB West coach Adam Sherman said. “Kids have a tendency, mentally to let them kind of stay with them and I thought this group showed tremendous maturity in just kind of focusing on the next situation and not letting it carry with them.”

Reichwein and Collin MacAdams both had a game-high 18 points as the Bucks (23-7) scored 15 straight point after trailing 42-33 in the fourth to take a 48-42 lead in overtime. Reading pulled to within three at 50-47 but West made 9-for-10 of its free throw in the last 55.1 seconds to finish 16-of-18 at the line in OT.

“It shows we got a lot of composure,” Reichwein said. I don’t think we’ve every shot free throws that well and it’s just unbelievable cause this type of game.”

The Bucks, the Suburban One League Continental Conference champs who placed fourth in District 1, advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals to face Philadelphia Catholic League champion Roman Catholic at a site and time to be determined. The Cahillites — District 12’s 2nd seed — topped District 1 runner-up Plymouth Whitemarsh 75-71 at Bensalem.

“It feels great. It’s super energetic. We can’t wait to play Saturday,” MacAdams said. “It’s March and we’re still playing, so it’s awesome.”

Hector Dixon paced District 3 champ Reading (25-5) with 16 points, 13 coming after halftime. Wesley Butler added 13 points while Xavier Starks hit for 3-pointers to score 12 points.

Shane McCusker got the comeback started when he took a pass from Jack Mulhearn, turned and a let fly a shot from beyond the arc that hitting nothing but net, pulling the Bucks to within 42-36.

“I really couldn’t find my rhythm, I was short on almost all my shots which is usually I leave it long,” McCusker said. “That shot was just for my confidence and the team’s momentum. So it was really big when I hit that.”

Reichwein converted both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 42-38 at 1:37. After a missed shot inside by the Red Knights, McCusker drove and kicked to a cutting MacAdams for two and a foul — the fifth on Reading’s Ricki Lopez-Mercedes — at 1:13. MacAdams could not connect on the free throw, but Reichwein was there to corral the offensive rebound and score down low, tying the game with 1:07 left.

“It was awesome. I just put my mind to getting that ball and got a couple moves that I use to do it,” Reichwein said. “I just happened to go to a spot where I could get it and I’m just happy the way it worked out.”

Reading held for the final shot and ended up getting two chances to win. After Butler’s jumper off a drive into the lane hit the back of the rim, Larry Wingo grabbed the offensive rebound and found Dixon for a 3 from the right wing, but the effort hit the backboard then off the rim, sending the teams to another four minutes tied 42-42.

“I just felt that we were really good defending them in a half-court set. If we go back on film, I think most of their buckets came in transition or in a freelance-type offense,” Sherman said. “I felt like when we have our defense set we’re good, so I believed in our defense. I thought the pressure was on them. I knew all we had to do was lock them up and get one rebound and that would put us in a good spot.”

CB West took the lead for good on a Mika Menari free throw at 3:35 in OT. After Butler missed two at the line at 3:09, MacAdams scored on a drive — West’s lone field goal in the period — for a 45-42 edge. Starks could not hit the front end of a 1-and-1 at 2:22 while the Bucks extended its lead to 48-42 on a Jack Neri foul shot with 1:41 left.

Butler got a two on a drive but MacAdams made a pair from the stripe at 1:19 to put West back up six. A Dixon three had the Red Knights within 50-37, however Reading came up empty from there as West continued to hit its free throws.

“I thought a big part, too, was their big man (Sanchez) fouling out. I knew that if we went to overtime, we’d have the advantage inside and on the glass,” Sherman said. “And we were able to clear rebounds in that overtime that were more of a struggle when he was in the game. So I thought that going to overtime definitely benefited us. At least that was my vibe, at least I was hoping it was true.”

Reading led 9-6 after the first quarter and was up by five twice in the second quarter — the last time at 13-8 before CB West ended the first half with a 9-2 run to hold a 17-15 advantage at halftime.

A Reichwein basket to start scoring in the third made it 19-15 but Reading began to find success from long range — hitting four 3s in the quarter. A Dixon trey put the Red Knights up 28-26 with another Dixon triple pushing the lead to 31-26. Two MacAdams free throws had the Bucks down 31-28 entering the fourth.

“They had a spurt where they were hitting tough shots,” Sherman said. “And that was the shots we were hoping for them to shot. But we didn’t think they’d make them, that many.”

A Mulhearn 3 had the Bucks within 32-31 in the fourth before Reading proceeded to on a 10-2 run — Butler collecting the last five on a two free throws at 2:30 then his 3-pointer play 19 seconds later for a 42-33 lead.

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Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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