Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.
Just like a week ago, when they faced Reading High in the Berks Conference championship game, the Blazers coach knows his team has only a "puncher's chance," as he says, when it hooks up with the Red Knights again Saturday at Hershey's Giant Center in a District 3-AAAA quarterfinal.
And he's OK with that.
"We know where we're at," he said. "I don't tell these guys we've got to win. We take a realistic approach. If they play hard, that's all you can ask for."
Some people around Birdsboro must be going through culture shock when they see the Blazers lined up in the Quad-A field along with the likes of traditional big-school powers such as Harrisburg, McCaskey, York High and Reading.
It wasn't that long ago that Daniel Boone was just another of those little I-C schools, scrambling to get enough kids to fill out a football roster.
The basketball program has had its moments; two years ago the Blazers made a stirring run to the PIAA Tournament.
But that was in Triple-A, which even then seemed like a big deal.
Now, with the school district growing, the influx of so many small Christian schools pushing other schools up a class and the PIAA reshuffling its classification lineup, the Blazers find themselves up there with the big boys.
"We were a little bit intimidated by it (at first)," Butkus said of the move to Quad-A, which took effect for the 2008-09 season. "We were starting to feel success at the Triple-A level. We made a nice run in Triples (in 2008). We never even looked (to see) that we were going to Quads. Then all of a sudden we're Quads, sitting there with Double-A's on our schedule.
"But it is what it is. We're Quad-A now, that's what you should be playing. We're up to the challenge. This team's ready for it."
The Blazers got blown out by Reading High in the first meeting at Birdsboro Jan. 26.
Three weeks later the Red Knights had a little harder time shaking a Blazers team that seemed a little more confident in itself, holding on for a 64-52 win in the Berks title game.
Butkus isn't upset about having to face perhaps the strongest team in the field, and a team from his backyard, yet again.
Now that Boone has reached the quarterfinals it is but one win away from a return trip to the state playoffs. Earning one of District 3's seven Quad-A spots to the big dance will be another milestone for the program.
"We've got three games to win one," he said. "If we can do that, then we hit states. We just want to keep taking that step up. We don't expect to win a district title. We set our goals at the beginning of the season: Win our division, get to county championship (game), play at the Giant Center.
"The PIAA Tournament is where you want to be. We're in the lower end of it, but we're building up around here."
Bracket busted
Few people will be surprised to see Reading High playing for the District 3-AAAA championship March 6 at the Giant Center.
The path leading the Red Knights there could be unprecedented, however.
It's possible Reading won't face an out-of-county foe on its way to the title game.
The Knights opened their district run by beating Berks I rival Exeter. Next up is Daniel Boone, the team they just beat for the Berks Conference title.
The semifinals could bring a rematch with Wilson, a Berks I rival it already has beaten twice.
The District 3 bracket is generated strictly through power ratings; no consideration is given to separating league rivals. But maybe it should be, given these strange circumstances.
"Personally," said Reading senior Xavier Mumford, "I'd rather play other teams, but it does feel good knowing that we beat those teams, and beat them pretty bad, so it does look good for us right now."
"It's good and bad," said Reading High coach Tim Redding. "It's a double-edged sword. You've got teams that you've seen before, that you're comfortable with, but they're comfortable with you."
Take this to the bank: It's a lot more comfortable for the Red Knights than it is for the teams trying to stop them.
Looking ahead
The team third-seeded Reading High might run into in the District 3-AAAA finale is also one it already has beaten: York High.
The fourth-seeded Bearcats are playing well and could knock off unbeaten Hempfield in an anticipated semifinal.
That could set up a rematch with the Red Knights, who beat them 67-61 in the final of the York Bearcat Tipoff Tournament Dec. 12.
How mighty have fallen
It's hard to believe, but the conference that won 10 of the first 11 District 3-AAAA championships and 14 of the first 16 - the mighty Mid-Penn - has advanced just one team, fifth-seeded Red Land, to the quarterfinals.
The Berks Conference (Wilson, Reading and Daniel Boone) and the Lancaster-Lebanon League (Hempfield, Penn Manor and Warwick) each have sent three.
This is no doubt the most dismal showing in the history of the Mid-Penn Conference. Only one of its four entries, Central Dauphin, won in the preliminary round. Only Red Land won a first-round game.
Overall, the Mid-Penn's Quad-A entries have gone 2-5.
Free throws
After seeing fewer than 400 fans show up for the Berks Girls League semifinal doubleheader at the Sovereign Center, BCIAA officials may want to consider whether it's financially feasible to continue that practice. It might make more sense to move that game to a less costly high school venue and reduce the price of those $7 tickets for the championship game by a buck. Add Holy Name's Tony Balistrere to the list of Berks coaches who topped 100 wins this season. Counting the 36 games he won as Waynesboro head coach before coming to Holy Name, he has 107.
Contact Mike Drago: 610-371-5067 or mdrago@readingeagle.com.
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
No comments:
Post a Comment