Alcantara, Reading put La Salle under pressure

WARMINSTER >> Players of Daniel Alcantara’s caliber just know.

For all the pressure he and his Reading basketball teammates had put on La Salle from the opening tip in their game Saturday, the Explorers were still hanging around going into the fourth quarter. While it looked like it could still be a game, Alcantara knew La Salle’s players were wearing down and there was a window to put the game out of reach.

The Reading senior led the way with 28 points as the Red Knights handled the Explorers 52-32 at Archbishop Wood’s Diane Mosco Foundation showcase.

“It’s a little bit of taking over but also a little bit of me making the right plays and the right read,” Alcantara said. “You know when you have to take over, but you also have to know when to make the right play.”

The 6-foot-5 wing was good early, scoring nine first quarter points as Reading raced out to an 8-0 lead and even better late, scoring his team’s first six points in the fourth and finishing the quarter with 12 points. In between, he and his teammates set about making it a miserable afternoon for an Explorers’ offense that had shown quite a bit of potency in its first three games.

Reading, the reigning PIAA 6A champions, is built on its defense, its hard work and its family identity. While the Red Knights certainly respected the talent on the other side of the floor, they weren’t going to give an inch despite the fact they were playing in PCL territory.

“We watched film, took note of their strengths and weaknesses, so we knew what we had to do, it was just a matter of executing it,” Alcantara said. “I feel like we did a good job executing it. We pour our heart out on the floor every time, on offense and defense, so that’s a main reason why we’re so successful because we play for each other, play for the city and play for something bigger than basketball.”

La Salle got within 13-9 late in the first quarter, but Reading ripped off the last five points of the frame with three coming from Alcantara then used a 7-2 run to open the second to build some space. On top of their pressure defense, which started as soon as La Salle inbounded the ball, the Red Knights were tough and physical in the paint and out on the perimeter.

Senior Sam Brown led La Salle with 12 points but was one of just four players on the roster to score against Reading. Nothing came easy for the Explorers, who shot just 6-of-27 in the first half and had 16 turnovers in the game.

“They fought harder than us today,” Brown said. “We made a lot of mistakes so starting Monday, we have to work on what we did wrong so we can be ready for Tuesday’s game against Penn Charter. They’re a fast, physical team and pressed throughout most of the game because they’re all good defenders so we have to work on when teams are pressuring us like that how to the get ball past halfcourt and into our sets.”

Ruben Rodriguez had a solid all-around game for Reading with seven points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals while Myles Grey added seven points and Justin Walker rebounded well off the bench with six boards. Joey Chapman was aggressive as usual pressuring the ball while Alcantara did a nice job defending La Salle wing Horace Simmons, holding the skilled junior to 11 points on a lot of very difficult looks.

La Salle played the Red Knights nearly even in the middle quarters and were within nine before Grey hit a three at the quarter horn to extend the lead back to 12. Alcantara took it from there, scoring on a drive to open the fourth, hitting a three off Chapman’s assist and drawing a shooting foul in a two-minute span to extend the lead.

He also scored the last six points of the game for Reading, including a slick reverse layup and an and-one that got the bench and the traveling Reading fans very fired up.

“Once we see the other team start to get tired, that’s when we flip the switch,” Alcantara said. “We start to play even harder than we were going before and that’s another reason why we have so much success on defense.

“We’ve been playing together for so long, we’re comfortable and we were just going with the flow and making right plays. Today, it just happened to be on me.”

Brown noted the Red Knights are the bar of what it takes to win a state title and if the Explorers want to get there, they still have a lot of work to do. While no team wants to lose, much less get taken out of their plan almost from the opening tip, the La Salle senior said the timing of the setback could be an advantage down the line.

“This is only our fourth game of the season, it is early and I would hate for this to happen later on,” Brown said. “We have a lot of time before playoffs and all of that. They’re a really good team and there are things we have to improve on if we want to see them again.”

Reading 52, La Salle 32
Reading 18 9 9 16 – 52
La Salle 9 7 8 8 – 32
Reading: Daniel Alcantara 11 3-7 28, Ruben Rodriguez 3 1-1 7, Myles Grey 3 0-0 7, Xavier Davis 2 0-2 4, Joey Chapman 1 0-0 2, Amier Burdine 1 0-0 2, Justin Walker 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 4-10 52.
La Salle: Sam Brown 4 4-4 12, Nix Varano 3 0-0 6, Horace Simmons 3 4-4 11, Ryan Sorge 1 0-0 3. Totals: 11 8-8 24.
3-pointers: R – Alcantara 3, Grey; L – Sorge, Simmons.