Saints in championship form as they beat Tigers to claim back to back titles

(This story will be updated later tonight with a additional details,and postgame reaction.)

HERSHEY — Berks Catholic put on a championship performance Thursday afternoon, knocking down 11 3-pointers and matching their excellent shooting with superb defense in beating Fleetwood 73-44 in the District 3 Class 4A championship game at Giant Center.

The championship was the second straight for the top-seeded Saints (22-4), and they recorded both in similar fashion. A year ago they were hot from 3-point range, hitting 8-of-17 in beating Middletown 60-37.

They were even better Thursday, when they made 11-of-23 from beyond the arc. Senior Ryan Koch, a three-year starter, said the familiarity of the big arena helped him and his teammates hone on the basket; he made 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and scored a team-high 20 points.

Return starter Jack Miller, who knocked down 5-of-9 3-point attempts, including one in each quarter, said the adrenaline of playing in a championship game helped. He finished with 17 points.

All of Miller’s teammates felt it, as they played what coach Snip Esterly their best game of the season, especially on the defensive end where they held the Tigers to 22 points in each half, and nearly 18 points below their season average.

Josiah Jordan set the tone early, attacking the basket and using his quickness to disrupt the Tigers. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

All-Berks forward Jake Karnish, Fleetwood’s all-time scoring leader, had a terrific game, with a game-high nine rebounds and a game-high 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He didn’t get much scoring help; only junior center Hunter Svoboda, who had 12 points, cracked double figures.

The Saints were crisp with their passing, totaling 11 assists, and careful with the ball; they turned it over just five times.

The championship is Berks Catholic’s fifth in its 12 seasons and first since 2018, when they beat Bishop McDevitt 46-26. The second-seeded Tigers (22-4) were playing in their first district championship since 1990.

The Saints started fast, getting 3-pointers from Miller and Koch in the opening minutes. Miller added another 3-pointer late in the quarter and Berks Catholic built a 17-7 lead heading into the second quarter.

Karnish had all of Fleetwood’s points in the first quarter.

Jordan’s speed was a factor throughout, as he ran the floor and got the rim at will. His rebound and quick outlet to Koch for a layup put Berks Catholic ahead 21-7 in the first minute of the second quarter, forcing Terry Sitler to call a Fleetwood timeout.

The Saints held for the fial 45 seconds of the opening half to set up a final shot and executed it to perfection, with Jaxon Geddio hitting Miller as he cut to the baseline. Miller’s floater settled into the net with two seconds left, pushing the Saints’ lead to 36-22 at intermission.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Fleetwood	7	15	11	11	44
Berks Catholic	17	19	14	23	73

Tigers (22-4)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Soumas	1-7	0-1	0-2	4	5	2
Williams	0-3	0-0	0-3	0	1	0
Karnish	10-17	1-1	2-3	1	9	23
Herb	1-5	5-6	0-0	0	2	7
Svoboda	5-9	2-2	0-1	0	3	12
Hilburt	0-1	0-0	0-1	1	1	0
Ryan	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Senna	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Schaffer	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
McKinney	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	17-42	8-10	2-10	6	22-23	44

Saints (22-4)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Geddio	0-1	0-0	0-1	2	3	0
Jordan	5-9	6-10	0-0	5	6	16
Koch	8-15	0-1	4-8	2	4	20
Miller	6-10	0-0	5-9	2	1	17
J. McKoy	3-4	2-2	0-0	0	6	8
K. McKoy	3-6	0-0	0-3	0	6	6
Treacy	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Nein	1-1	0-0	1-1	0	0	3
Gaffney	1-1	0-0	1-1	0	0	3
Dominguez	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Altimar	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Diaz	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Komoro	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Garcia	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	27-48	8-13	11-23	11	27-28	73

Turnovers: Fleetwood 9, Berks Catholic 5.