E-town - Reading preview

The Final Four of the District Three Quad A playoffs gets underway tonight at the Giant Center. Harrisburg and CD East will get things started at 6:30 with E-town battling top-seed Reading after that.

What's on the line here, exactly? Well, for one, the winner advances to the district championship game on Saturday. The loser is already in the PIAA tournament, but the longer you go in the district tournament, the higher seed you get in the state tournament, which means you will likely get an easier draw. That's essentially it. The loser of this game will play for third place in the district on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Giant Center.

But back to tonight's matchup. Here's what the Bears are up against:

Reading is 28-0 and the No. 1 seed in the district, as well as the No. 3-ranked team in the state. The Red Knights average right around 76 points per game and allow just 50 – so they are winning by an AVERAGE of 26 points per game. Wow. They have played two teams that the Bears faced this season – Conestoga Valley and J.P. McCaskey. Reading beat CV by 50 (yes, 50) earlier this year and dispensed of McCaskey by 23. They have won both of their district games (against Carlisle and York) by double digits.

So, yes, Reading is good. Very good. And here are some major reasons why they are good:
• Senior guard Jordan Burdine. Team's leading scorer, averages 17.8 points per game. Coming off 25-point outing against York on Saturday.
• Sophomore forward Trenity Burdine. Second leading scorer, averages 13.6 per game. Can shoot the 3 ball (hit 42 3's this year).
• Senior center Jermain Jackson. Big lefty is 6'7" and talented. Averages 13.5 per game, but has been a terror in the playoffs. Got into foul trouble against York, but in the first round had 21 points and 15 rebounds against Carlisle.
• Junior guard Justin Rodriguez. The teams' point guard, also averages 12.9 points per game. He had 13 in the win over York.
(If you're keeping track, that's four players on this reading team that average at least 12 points per game. Needless to say, they can hurt you in a lot of different ways.
• Senior forward Nelson Leon. Leon is the last of the starters on this team, and averages 7.5 points per game, but can certainly go for double digits.
• Another player to keep an eye on is sixth man Demrick Cook, who is an excellent rebounder. With Jackson in foul trouble against York, the 6'2" Cook came in and grabbed 17 rebounds to help Reading pull away. Freshman forward Marcus Dawkins will also see some minutes and can score as well.

This game will be a tough one for E-town to win. There's no other way to put it. They will have to get every bounce and have everything go their way for a full 32 minutes to pull this upset off. And that's not a knock on the Bears, that's just how good the Red Knights are. If there's one thing I can be sure of, though, it's that E-town won't play scared and they won't back down. They'll get physical with Reading and continue pestering them. If the Bears want a puncher's chance here, they've got to keep playing hard and not get out of their gameplan no matter how large of a deficit they are facing. If they get down by 10 or so early, they've just got to keep plugging away. They can't let the bright lights of the Giant Center or the aura of playing Reading get to them. They must remember that they deserve to be there too. They've earned that much.

But in the end, I simply thing Reading is too strong, and will pull away in the second half. I see the Bears keeping it closer than most people think they can, but the Red Knights just having too much firepower in the end and winning the ball game. There's no shame in losing to a team as good as Reading, because there is such a thing as a good loss (just ask the NY Giants – remember that regular season finale loss to the Pats). If the Bears play them close and hang around for the entire game, that will take their confidence to another level.

My prediction: Reading 65 - E-town 53.