Hoop Notes: Tigers’ tale, Hawks take flight, grand outlook, bad break and more

Fleetwood coach Terry Sitler enters his Berks Conference opener Thursday at Oley Valley with a sense of dread.

“I hate playing there,” he said, reflecting back to losses at Oley the last two times the Tigers played there, and to three straight losses to the Lynx.

The Tigers, the Berks III favorite, head to Oley with momentum after three straight wins to open the season. They’re at the top of their game now and will face an Oley team that’s won two of its first three games without injured Chase Reifsnyder, their leading return scorer.

The Lynx were the preseason favorite in Berks IV; Sitler knows they’ll likely offer the biggest challenge for the Tigers in their five crossover games.

“This is a game we have penciled in,” Sitler said. “We have to make sure we take care of our business. Last year we had one of our hiccups there.”

Fleetwood played at Oley last year the night after a loss to Wilson and lost 52-48. That was part of a seven-game winning streak that lifted the Lynx to 11-3 and sent them to a berth in the District 3 playoffs.

Both teams have designs on a return to districts this season. Their meeting is the highlight on the opening night of league play, which sees at least one game in each of the four divisions.

Gov. Mifflin plays at Muhlenberg in the Muhls’ return to Berks I. Berks Catholic begins its return to Berks II with a game at Twin Valley. Wyomissing, which opened its season Monday with a win at at Daniel Boone, hosts Schuylkill Valley in a Berks III game.

League play starts in full Tuesday, Dec. 20, with Reading High, Wilson and Exeter among those playing openers.

Sitler shouldn’t have too many worries, not with the way his team is playing. The Tigers are off to a 3-0 start after convincing wins over Bishop McDevitt and Red Land in the York Suburban Tournament last weekend.

The Lynx aren’t sure when they’ll have Reifsnyder back; he injured his wrist in soccer and it remains in a cast. He is out indefinitely.

Jake Karnish led the way, scoring 63 points in those two games and earning tournament MVP honors. He’s averaging a healthy 28.7 points.

Sitler is excited about the way his team is playing defense. The Tigers are allowing 41.0 points per game.

“We’re playing at a high level right now,” Sitler said. “I’m really excited about the way our guys are playing together. Defensively, we’re making statement. Against McDevit, we shut ’em down. Our mentality is much better than it has been in past years, and so is our confidence level.”

The Tigers opened last season 7-0 on the way to a Berks III title and 16-5 regular season finish.

Hawks take flight

A 4-0 start isn’t exactly groundbreaking but at Hamburg’s it’s special. None of the Hawks players were alive the last time the team got off to a clean start like this, in 1999, when they won their first seven.

The Hawks already exceeded their wins totals of any of the seven seasons between 2012-19. They won just five teams in each of the past two seasons.

They’re one of four Berks teams to make it through the first full week of basketball unbeaten, along with Berks Catholic, Exeter, Fleetwood, Reading High and Wilson.

They’ve done it with a balanced scoring effort from seniors Kevin McFarland III (16.3), Conner Licklider (14.0) and Xander Menapace (13.3). Licklider leads the Berks Conference with 16 3-pointers.

More remarkably they’ve done it with a new coach, Kevin McFarland, who didn’t take the job until just a few weeks before the start of practice and without the team being involved in a summer league.

Bad break for Bednarczyk

Tulpehocken has played its last three games without top scorer David Bednarczyk and will be without him for at least three more games, maybe longer.

The senior fractured a bone in his right (shooting) hand early in the season-opener against Upper Perkiomen. He stayed in the game despite the pain and scored a game-high 21 points. He had the hand x-rayed follwing the game and now has it in a splint.

Bednarczyk will be re-examined next week. Trojans coach Nate Miller is hoping to have him on the court for the Tulpehocken holiday tournament Dec. 27-28.

Bednarczyk is the top returning scorer in Division IV of the Berks Conference; he averaged 16.5 points per game last season and was named to the all-division team. He is 120 points away from 1,000 career points.

Grand outlook

Three Berks seniors are within range of 1,000 career points.

Fleetwood’s Jake Karnish, off to a hot start, is the closest. He’s at 924 points after back-to-back 30-point games over the weekend.

Karnish can become the first Fleetwood player to hit the milestone in 40 seasons. Dave Angstadt and Jeff Batturs each topped 1,000 in 1983. Angstadt has the program record with 1,201 points, a figure certainly within Karnish’s range.

Tulpehocken’s David Bednarczyk has 880 points but is currently sidelined with a broken hand. He could return later this month.

Berks Catholic’s Josiah Jordan is at 819 going into Thursday’s Berks II opener at Twin Valley. Teammate Ryan Koch (616) can reach the milestone as well if the Saints have another extended playoff run.

Just four players have scored 1,000 points with Berks Catholic: Casey Jack (1,118), Nana Foulland (1,075), Connor Jack (1,075) and Luis Garcia.

Cam still out

Wilson is 3-0 despite playing without its top returning scorer Cam Jones, an all-division pick as a junior who averaged 12.1 last season. Jones is recovering from a football injury; he isn’t expected to play Tuesday against Manheim Township.

Senior Aidan Melograna has stepped up for the Bulldogs; he’s averaging 17.0 points and has 13 3-pointers. He knocked down a career-best five 3’s in a 55-45 win at Easton.

Red Knights in Saturday shootout

Reading High heads back to Archbishop Wood Saturday to take part in the Diane Mosco Foundation Shootout for the second straight year. The Red Knights will face Philadelphia West Catholic at 3:00. Last year they routed La Salle College 52-32.

The memorial tournament honors the wife of Archbishop Wood coach John Mosco.

Reading High beat Wood 58-57 in the 2021 PIAA Class 6A championship game. John Mosco and Red Knights coach Rick Perez have a mutual respect for each other and their respective programs, and Perez promised to take his team to the charity event, which funds scholarships for students at St. Hubert’s and Archbishop Wood.

Wood ended Reading High’s season last year with a 64-58 win in the second round of the PIAA Tournament. Earlier in the year the Red Knights beat the Vikings by the same score at the Geigle.

Reading plays in the third game of a six-game shootout:

• 11:30: Bishop Eustace vs. Downingtown West
• 1:15: St. John Catholic Prep (Md.) vs. St. Joe’s Prep
• 3:00: Reading High vs. West Catholic
• 4:45: Radnor vs. Archbishop Ryan
• 6:30: Central York vs. Father Judge
• 8:00: Pittsburgh North Catholic vs. Archbishop Wood

All-Stater sidelined

Camden Hurst, Lancaster Mennonite’s All-State guard, will miss at least six weeks after fracturing a bone in his right shooting hand, according to John Walk of LancasterOnline.com.

Hurst scored 19 points in Mennonite’s 52-46 win over Antietam last year in the District 3 Class 2A championship game. A year earlier he had 32 points against the Mounts in the district title game, an 80-67 win.

Hurst underwent surgery Wednesday and expects to return in mid-January.