PIAA Tournament preview: Fleetwood (20-5) vs. Scranton Prep (16-9)
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
What: Class 4A, first round
When: Friday, 7:00
Where: Scranton Prep’s Xavier Center, Scranton
About the Cavaliers (2-1)
Rallied from nine-point, second-half deficit to beat top-seeded Valley View 41-39 in District 2 championship game for second straight title and seventh overall in Class 4A.
Entered tournament as No. 2 seed, then beat No. 7 Hanover and No. 3 Wyoming, by 25 and 16 points, respectively.
First-year coach Larry Reagan put together a challenging schedule that included six teams headed for the PIAA Tournament, including Roman Catholic and Executive Education Academy. Also lost twice to unbeaten District 2 Class 5A champ Abington Heights in Lackawanna League Division 1 play.
Enter state tournament on a six-game winning streak; last loss came nearly five weeks ago, to Scranton (20-4), the District 2 Class 6A champ.
Brycen Martin averages 12.7 points and leads a balanced scoring attack. He has team-leading 47 3’s and shoots 72.9 percent from foul line.
Daniel Santaniello averages 11.8 points and has 27 3’s. Four players have 19 or more 3-pointers and four starters shoot 70 percent or better from the foul line.
Chase Scanlan came off the bench to hit three 3’s and score a game-high 14 points in comeback win over Valley View, the Cavs’ third of the season over the Cougars.
In the state tournament for 25th time, and 10th straight year. Won state opener last year over Octorara before losing to District 1 champ Bishop Shanahan. Beat Middletown in 2022 opener.
About the Tigers (3-4)
Have lost 3-of-4 games in the postseason, including back-to-back games in district tournament, to finish fourth in District 3. Were positioned for a second straight appearance in district championship game, with 13-point, fourth-quarter lead at home before Big Spring rallied for 62-61 victory.
Have reached state tournament in back-to-back years for first time in 40 years. That’s also the last time (1984) they won a tournament game.
Senior Aiden Soumas, a 1,000-point scorer and four-year starter, leads team in scoring at 17.4. He is committed to play baseball at Kutztown University.
Senior center Hunter Svoboda averages 10.6 points and team-leading 8.5 rebounds; he will play football at William & Mary.
Senior Nate Herb averages 9.9 points and leads team in assists and steals; he will play soccer at Shippensburg University.
Senior Liam Hilbert leads team with 36 3-pointers; he hit a school-record eight 3’s against Big Spring and finished with a career-high 24 points.
Mason Musitano, the fifth senior in the starting lineup, shoots 62 percent from the foul line, tops among the starters. He is committed to play wide receiver at Millersville University.
Each of five losses have come against state qualifiers: Octorara, Manheim Central, Muhlenberg, Big Spring, and Berks Catholic losses. Have no wins over state-qualifiers.
Have had difficult time at the free throw line. Three starters shoot below 50 percent; team averages below 49 percent. Went 7-for-22 in league playoff loss to Muhlenberg, 6-for-23 in district semi loss to Big Spring and 2-of-8 against Berks Catholic.
Head coach Terry Sitler, who has a 138-125 record in 12 seasons at Fleetwood, announced before the season that this would be his final year. He has seen the Tigers win back-to-back division titles and record back-to-back 20-win seasons. They finished 22-5 last year, the third-most wins in program history.
