Wednesday night hockey at the Arena in downtown Reading, the Wheeling Nailers visited from West Virginia for the first time since December of 2022. Wheeling is one of the very few franchises still in the league from when the Royals debuted in 2001, its origins date back to the league's beginnings in 1988. The Royals went 2-0-1 on the road over the weekend to finish the season's first half, on this night they suffered a second consecutive overtime loss. The Royals led 2-0 after one period on scores from Tag Bertuzzi and Mason Millman, after Wheeling cut the lead in half Bertuzzi struck again to put the Royals ahead 3-1. The Nailers rallied back to tie and took the lead with seven minutes left in regulation time, in the final minute Ryan Chyzowski found the net to draw the Royals even at 4-4. In overtime it took Wheeling all of fifty-three seconds to score the winner, Nolan Maier was the Royals' goalie of record. The mark at the home schedule's midpoint is 8-8-2, overall 16-17-4. The club stays home for return dates with Wheeling on Friday and Saturday. Thursday night was another game night for basketball, we made the bus ride north to Manheim Township. The JV lost to fall to 9-9, the varsity contest was One Of Those Games. All you need to know is our opponent made more free throws than we attempted and it seemed like Every Single Call went their way. Three of our players fouled out, none of theirs came close. The game isn't easy to begin with, when the floor is tilted it's nigh unto impossible. The final was 73-69 and drops the division record to 3-4, overall to 6-11. The boys travel to York County for a varsity-only game on the 27th in Red Lion (I'm absent for the Royals), the next home game is Senior Night on the 29th. Take care, thanks for reading.
