Central York senior guard Ben Natal

Central York knocked off Reading 79-65 in the state semifinals last year. The Panthers went on to make history by winning their first PIAA-6A championship. The Red Knights know a little something about capturing state gold. They've earned three PIAA titles since 2017. Reading and Central York squared off on Wednesday night at the Geigle Complex. The Panthers landed the first punch and took a 7-0 lead. They were in front 25-12 after the opening quarter. "This team is very scrappy and they play off energy...We wanted to play our game and control the game from the start. We did a good job doing that," Ben Natal told SV Sports' Paul Roberts. Natal set the tone with ten points in the first eight minutes. The 6'3 senior guard finished with 20 points in a 73-59 victory. Natal, who has more than 1,400 career points, is looking to improve upon his junior campaign. "I stepped up my defense a little more and definitely being a leader on the court," he noted. Ben Rill, a 6'8 senior, also ended up with 20 points. "Rill does a great job cleaning up the boards, finishing layups," said Natal. Albright commit Byron Pinkney has emerged as another scoring threat for Central York. The 6'4 senior guard poured in 19 points and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. "I think that the hard work he's putting in at practice is showing. He can step it up on any given night," mentioned Natal. The Red Knights didn't go down without a fight. They outscored the Panthers 30-to-25 in the middle quarters. Reading got the first bucket of the fourth quarter to pull within 50-44. Central York responded with 23 points in the final period and improved to (8-1). Rill and Pinkney combined for 13 points in the last quarter, while Natal made all four of his foul shots. Sophomore guard Jeremiah Camara had a team-high 15 points for the (3-9) Red Knights. They've played a very challenging schedule and started three sophomores on Wednesday. Natal has offers from Pepperdine, Colgate, and Hampton. He's planning on going to a prep school for a year before heading to college. As for now, Natal is focused on making another deep run with the Panthers. "We know that teams are definitely gonna have us marked on their calendar and put a target on our back. We try to stay composed and fight through that," he said.