Reading High Basketball Brings Home State Title

On Saturday, 25 March, the Reading High basketball team defeated Pine-Richland, 64-60, to win the Boys 6A Basketball State Championship.

The Reading High basketball team was lead by seniors Lonnie Walker IV, Isiah Cook, and Tyrone Nesby IV. They all had huge impacts on the team and were big reasons why they won the State Championship.

Senior Lonnie Walker committed to Miami University in 2016, just as the season was about to begin. Walker’s outstanding play brought in a large crowd every single game throughout the season, especially in the state championship game.

The Giant Center, where the state championship game was played, sold out very quickly that night. The game sold about 9,500 tickets.

The last time Reading High basketball made it to the state championship was forty-four years ago. In 1973, Reading High lost by one point in the championship game.

After losing to Harrisburg in the District semi-finals earlier in the year and losing to Taylor Allderdice in the semi-finals last year, Pine-Richland really put up a fight against Reading. They held a lead for some of the game, including during halftime when they were up 30-28, but Reading didn’t give up. They continued to fight back, and, once they gained momentum, there was no stopping the Red Knights.

Tyrone Nesby gave the Red Knights a lot of momentum in the beginning of the second half with a big three-pointer. He continued to play well all second half.

Lonnie Walker really kept Reading’s tempo going by making big shots and playing at his usual rate. With time closing, he led a fast break down the court and threw down a one-handed dunk to close the game for Reading.

The game put an ending to the fairy-tale season for the Reading Red Knights. It was what the team was looking for since the beginning of the season; it was also the revenge they wanted since last year.