It’s a three-peat for Fleetwood Tigers
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Fleetwood wasn’t winning many basketball games when Aiden Soumas, Nate Herb, Liam Hilburt and Mason Musitano began playing together in elementary school.
They stuck with the game and with each other, vowing they would change things when they got to high school. A lot of people say that when they’re kids and don’t know better; these guys put in the work to make it happen.
“We won a lot of games in middle school,” said Herb, “and we couldn’t wait to get on the varsity floor and turn the culture around, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Soumas scored a game-high 17 points, Herb had six assists and the Tigers turned back Schuylkill Valley 53-46 Friday in Leesport to clinch their third straight Berks Conference Division III title.
The Tigers (9-0, 15-2) are on pace to match last year’s 20-2 regular season record, best in program history, and complete their first unbeaten run through the league in at least 60 years (and maybe ever).
“We’ve been working at this for (so) long,” Soumas said. “This group of guys has been playing together since fourth, fifth grade. Fleetwood basketball was at an all-time low point a couple years before I came in. Coach (Terry) Sitler has had some tough times. I’m glad we could come in and give him some success, especially since this is his last year.”
Hunter Svoboda joined the team in seventh grade and this group has been together ever since – and winning. The five senior starters know each other well, and it shows: They recorded assists on 12 of 20 baskets Friday.
“Playing with your friends and being able to succeed at this level, it feels great,” said Herb. “As a team we’re really working hard right now. We still have four games left, so we’ve gotta carry it over into playoffs.”
The Tigers took the lead for good 3 ½ minutes into the game when Svoboda found Musitano on a baseline cut. They extended their lead to eight points by halftime, by 14 in the third quarter and were up 16 with four minutes to go when Soumas found the 6-6 Svoboda underneath.
The Panthers (6-3, 12-5), still with a chance to win the division, fought to the end and were within seven points with two minutes left when Luke Spotts knocked down a 3-pointer. They began to intentionally foul at that point and the Tigers obliged the strategy, missing 5-of-8 from the line in the final two minutes.
Schuylkill Valley couldn’t close the gap because it couldn’t score consistently against Fleetwood’s 2-3 zone. It couldn’t hit from the outside all night, making just 5-of-20 shots from beyond the arc, and it had no success getting the ball inside.
Svoboda, sitting in the middle of that zone, took away the paint, swatted away several shots and grabbed 12 rebounds. He scored 10 of his 15 points in the final quarter to keep the Panthers at bay.
“We were getting penetration, and Hunter’s finding an opening and we were getting layups underneath,” Sitler said.
Defense was the key. Schuylkill Valley had just 25 points before Cooper Hohenadel ended the third-quarter with a 3-pointer off an inbounds play with two seconds left.
Schuylkill Valley scored just 38 points against a Fleetwood in a loss in December.
“We won a game here last year in that zone,” Soumas said, “and we’ve stuck with it ever since against Schuylkill Valley. We’re really confident in that 2-3 zone. It’s pretty lockdown, especially with Hunter inside. It’s really hard to get a shot off inside.”
“We realize our zone is our bread and butter this year,” Herb said, “and it was really working in (the first meeting against Schuylkill Valley) so we came in knowing we were going to stick to our previous success, and it paid off again tonight.
“Even if people get it in the middle, it’s Hunter in there they have to meet. You can’t find anyone else in the county with his size who’s that big of a presence inside. We look for him inside a lot and he’s a big mismatch.”
The Tigers had a dozen more rebounds and got consistent scoring from Soumas, who had nine points at halftime and 17 after three quarters. He took only shot in the fourth quarter and heads into Monday’s home game against Garden Spot needing seven points to reach 1,000.
Fleetwood went 22-5 last season and reached the District 3 Class 4A championship game. Two-time All-Berks pick Jake Karnish was the go-to guy on that team and finished with a program-record 1,422 points.
They haven’t had Karnish to rely on this season but are still winning games at the same clip.
“We knew coming back we had a heavy senior class,” Herb said, “guys that have played together for a very long time. We believed in ourselves. We expected to get back here. It was just putting in the hard work and that’s what we’ve done.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Fleetwood | 13 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 53 |
| Schuylkill Valley | 10 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 46 |
| Tigers (15-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Musitano | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Hilburt | 2-6 | 3-6 | 2-4 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Soumas | 7-14 | 2-5 | 1-5 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
| Herb | 2-6 | 4-11 | 0-1 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| Svoboda | 7-10 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 12 | 15 |
| Senna | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryan | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Totals | 20-42 | 10-24 | 3-11 | 12 | 33/37 | 53 |
| Panthers (12-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Giuffre | 2-9 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Zimmerman | 3-7 | 6-10 | 1-2 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| Spotts | 5-8 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Gerner | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Hohenadel | 2-10 | 0-0 | 2-9 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Cammauf | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Kemmerer | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Dissinger | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 16-46 | 9-16 | 5-20 | 5 | 23/25 | 46 |
Turnovers: Fleetwood 13, Schuylkill Valley 10. Team rebounds: Fleetwood 4, Schuylkill Valley 2.
