PIAA Tournament preview: Fleetwood vs. Cardinal O’Hara
What: PIAA Tournament first round
Classification: Class 4A
Who: Fleetwood (22-4) vs. Cardinal O’Hara (17-8)
When: Friday, 7:00
Where: Fleetwood
Series record: First meeting
About the Tigers: Reached District 3 final for first time in 33 years, falling to Berks Catholic to enter state tournament as No. 2 seed. . . First PIAA Tournament appearance since 1990, when they won district title, and seventh overall . . . First 20-win season since 1984, and just fifth in program history. . . Two-time All-Berks pick Jake Karnish, a King’s College recruit, is the second-leading scorer in the league at 21.7 points. . . He’s the leading scorer in program history at 1,401. . . Senior Nate Herb and junior Aiden Soumas were all-division picks. . . Herb averages 9.1 points and has 19 3-pointers. . . Soumas averages 13.3 points and shoots 69 percent at the foul line. . . Senior Braden Williams leads team with 34 3-pointers. . . Lead the league in free throw shooting percentage at 70.9 percent. . . Karnish is making 81.7 percent of his shots from the line and Liam Hilburt 71.4 percent. . . Terry Sitler, in his 11th season as head coach, has 118 wins, second-most in program history. . . Enter tournament with 9-5 record in state playoffs, with a championship in 1957 and a semifinal appearance in 1983.
About the Lions: Beat Audenried in District 12 third-place game. . . Led by two-time All-Catholic League guard Izaiah Pasha, who scored 34 points in state-qualifying win over Audenried. . . The Iona recruit averages 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists and shoots 74.7 percent from the foul line. . . The 6-4 senior brings length to the defensive end, as does 6-8 Pearse McGuinn, a Division I prospect who averages 12.4 points and shoots 82.1 percent from the foul line. . . Aasim “Flash” Burton, an All-Philadelphia Public League pick at Math, Civics and Sciences who is getting Division I looks, averages 13.2 points and 5.0 assists and shoots 83.5 percent at the foul line. . . Return starting guard Josh Coulanges averages 11.9 points and shot 47.7 percent on 3-pointers, making a team-high 45. He shoots 78.3 percent from the foul line. . . Finished seventh in Philadelphia Catholic League, behind Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic, West Catholic, Archbishop Ryan, Archbishop Wood and St. Joseph’s Prep. . . Lost at home to league champ Neumann-Goretti 61-60 on Feb. 6. . . Lost to Roman 76-52 in second round of league playoffs Feb. 17. . . Have played just one game in the last three weeks. . . Led Reading High by 19 points at the Geigle in January before Red Knights mounted huge comeback to win 68-65. . . Three starters return from team that beat Wilson Area 54-46 in first round of the state tournament last season before losing to Dallas 75-57.
Winner gets: (11-1) Allentown Central Catholic (20-8) or (12-5) Carver Engineering & Science (12-12), Tuesday, March 14.
