Can Tigers continue dream season against Saints in District 3 title game?

The Fleetwood Tigers are enjoying a dream season, but it’s not one that was unexpected.

After returning three starters, including All-Berks forward Jake Karnish, from a team that won 16 games and a division championship the Tigers fully expected to make a run in the District 3 Tournament, especially after moving down one classification from 5A.

The Tigers’ 22 wins are the most in the program in nearly 40 years; Thursday afternoon they’ll find themselves at Giant Center playing in the district title game for the first time since 1990.

They’ll meet top-seeded Berks Catholic (22-4) at 12:45, which is looking for its second straight title and fifth in its 12-year history.

The Saints have been there, done that. They’re used to the bright lights and the intensity that March basketball brings.

For the second-seeded Tigers (22-3) this is a new chapter.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said Fleetwood coach Terry Sitler, “but they realize there’s more they can do. It’s not over yet.”

Both teams have clinched a berth in the PIAA Tournament, which tips March 10; both will open the tourney at home.

Each has the capability of winning some state tournament games; only one will go in as a district champion.

The Tigers, no doubt, are the underdog Thursday; they haven’t played the demanding schedule that the Saints have. Three of Berks Catholic’s losses have come against teams playing for district championships Thursday: Reading High and Exeter (twice). The fourth loss came to Muhlenberg, which is a win away from making the PIAA Tournament.

The Tigers haven’t faced anyone with the kind of intense defense the Saints play, or the kind of speed Wilkes football recruit Josiah Jordan will bring.

“They’re probably going to be the best team we’ve played this year,” said Sitler, whose team won its first 13 games before losing to Manheim Central, which plays for the Class 5A title Thursday. “I have a lot of respect for the (Berks Catholic) program. They can score from any of the five positions on the floor, and that’s what’s going to make it difficult.”

To get ready for that Sitler had the Tigers scrimmage Muhlenberg during the week layoff between the county and district playoffs. The Muhls can get in your face defensively and get up and down the court as well as anyone. They no doubt got the Tigers playoff-ready.

Fleetwood has come out with a pair of dominating performances, beating Middletown by 16 points and Littlestown by 19 in its first two district outings.

“We’re playing very confidently as a team right now, which is exciting to see,” said Sitler.

Karnish, a two-time All-County pick, has led the league in scoring most of the season. He fell to second, at 21.6 per game, after Reading’s Ruben Rodriguez dropped 42 points last week. Koch is third in the league in free throw shooting, hitting 81.5 percent from the foul line. He has scored a program-record 1,378 points.

Karnish is backed by a pair of all-division picks, junior Aiden Soumas, who averages 13.8 points, and senior point guard Nate Herb, who averages 9.2 points.

The Tigers got a boost from 6-7 junior center Hunter Svoboda in the semifinals; he scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He’ll be a key against Berks Catholic, which has been vulnerable defending the post at times this season.

Otherwise, the Saints don’t have a lot of weaknesses. Jordan, who averages a team-leading 14.2 points, is as tough to stop from getting to the basket as anyone. He was an All-Berks pick as a junior and an all-division pick this season.

Senior forward Ryan Koch averages 13.5 points and is among the league leaders with 53 3-pointers. Senior guard Jack Miller, one of three return starters from the team that blasted Middletown 60-37 in last year’s championship game, is one of the most accurate shooters in the league: He has 41 3’s.

Jordan, Koch and Miller combined for 42 points in last year’s title game.

The Saints have been bolstered this season by the McKoy brothers, Josh and Kingston, who played at Antietam last season. Josh, a junior, is the starting center and averages 9.6 points. Kingston is the league’s top freshman; he scored 14 against Octorara in the semifinals and had a season-high 18 in the Berks playoffs against Muhlenberg.

Fleetwood’s win over Middletown, by the way, was its first in district play since 1990, when it beat Central Catholic 43-40 for the District 3 Class A championship. That Central team was coached by Snip Esterly, in his first season as a head coach. Esterly, who now coaches the Saints, has won 771 times since.

Fleetwood also beat Central Catholic for the 1984 district championship, 71-68. Esterly was an assistant coach for the Cardinals.

For those keeping track, the Tigers have won four district championship; Esterly’s team have won 13.