Fleetwood sees season ended by Cardinal O’Hara in state tournament opener
By Chris Deantonio — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
It didn’t take long for Fleetwood to take the lead against Cardinal O’Hara in its PIAA Class 4A Tournament opener Friday. Jake Karnish sank two free throws before the game clock started thanks to a pregame technical foul against the Lions.
The Tigers carried that lead into the second quarter before the Lions used an 11-point run to take control on the way to a 62-50 victory at Fleetwood.
The loss ended one of the best seasons in program history for the Tiger (22-5), who reached their first district final in 33 years and made their first state tournament appearance since 1990.
“I’m proud of everyone on the team, it’s been a great season,” said Karnish, the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,420 points. “I think we laid a great foundation for the future and I think we honestly turned this program around. We made it a basketball school for the season and I’m just proud of everything we’ve done.”
The opening quarter ended like it started, with points from Karnish, who hit a baseline, fadeaway buzzer-beater, giving the Tigers a 17-15 lead.
Karnish scored seven of his 19 points in the first quarter. Junior Aiden Soumas had eight first-quarter points, including two 3-pointers. He finished with a team-high 20 points.
“We got the nerves out right away and said, ‘Hey, we can play with this team,” said Fleetwood head coach Terry Sitler. “We hit a couple shots early and we knew it wasn’t going to be a 40-point game.”
Cardinal O’Hara (18-8), the No. 3 seed out of District 12, stepped up its defense in the second period, holding Fleetwood to six points. Two-time All-Catholic League guard Izaiah Pasha sparked an 11-0 run that proved to be the difference. The Lions outscored the Tigers 19-6 in the second quarter.
“After the first quarter, Coach (Ryan) Nemetz got on us for giving up 17 points,” said Pasha. “The second quarter we played hard on defense, executed on the offensive end, and played smart.”
“There was a six-minute span in the second quarter where we turned the ball over four or five times in a row,” said Sitler. “It went from a two-point lead to an 11-point lead.”
Pasha said the team focuses on giving up fewer than 10 points each quarter. They were able to do that in the second through several forced turnovers and fastbreak points, including an 11-point run, mostly led by Pasha.
“We were able to put up the pressure,” said Nemetz. “We started to play a little tempo, they got a little tired, and we were able to put up a lead in the second quarter.”
Like the start of the game, Fleetwood got off to a hot start in the second half, trimming Cardinal O’Hara’s lead to single digits early in the third.
The Tigers were again led by Karnish, who scored 10 of the Tigers 11 points in the third. Fleetwood trimmed the deficit to six twice in the third quarter.
“Our guys battled,” said Sitler.
For every Fleetwood run, Cardinal O’Hara had an answer. Pasha led the way with a game-high 23 points. The Lions also got a big contribution from 6-8 Pearse McGuinn, a Division I prospect who finished with 17 points.
Pasha and McGuinn scored all 10 points for Cardinal O’Hara in the third quarter, as they helped guide the team through Fleetwood’s runs.
“Our energy fell, and I think the guys tried to force things on offense,” said Nemetz. “But then they settled in, started getting a couple shots, making a couple of layups, and helped us even things back out.”
Cardinal O’Hara took a 10 point lead into the fourth quarter and kept Fleetwood in check throughout.
Down 10 in the closing minutes, Fleetwood took the time to acknowledge the home crowd support, something that was important to the coaching staff and the players after a historic season for the Tigers.
“The crowd’s been with us all year, with more and more people coming out to each game,” said Karnish. “It’s just great to see the community involved.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cardinal O’Hara | 15 | 19 | 10 | 18 | 62 |
| Fleetwood | 17 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 50 |
| Lions | FG | FT | PTs |
| Hobbs | 0 | 2-2 | 2 |
| Pasha | 8 | 6-8 | 23 |
| Johnson | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Coulanges | 5 | 2-2 | 13 |
| Williams-Bey | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Epps | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| McGuinn | 6 | 0-0 | 17 |
| Cervellero | 3 | 0-0 | 7 |
| Totals | 22 | 10-12 | 62 |
| Tigers | FG | FT | PTs |
| Soumas | 9 | 0-1 | 20 |
| Williams | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Herb | 1 | 2-3 | 4 |
| Karnish | 5 | 4-4 | 19 |
| Svoboda | 2 | 3-6 | 7 |
| Hilburt | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17 | 9-14 | 50 |
3-point field goals: Pasha, Coulanges, Mcguinn, Cervellero; Soumas 2, Karnish 2.
