Career-high 26 points make Aiden Soumas’ night especially grand at Fleetwood
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Aiden Soumas never considered himself much of a scorer. Persistence, consistency, and hard work is the path that led him to 1,000 career points.
“I’ve worked hard for a long time to be a successful athlete in high school,” the Fleetwood senior said late last week, one game before reaching the milestone, which he did Monday against Garden Spot.
Soumas made his special night all the more memorable, scoring a career-high 26 points in the Tigers’ 67-47 non-league win over the visiting Spartans (9-9).
| Tigers career leaders | ||||
| Jake Karnish | 2023 | 1,422 | ||
| Dave Angstadt | 1983 | 1,201 | ||
| Dave Smith | 1964 | 1,176 | ||
| Jeff Batturs | 1983 | 1,162 | ||
| Arlan Burkert | 1957 | 1,116 | ||
| Aiden Soumas | 2024 | 1,019 |
He went over the 1,000-point threshold in the opening quarter, when he scored 11 points. He entered the game needing seven points and finished it with 1,019.
Soumas had 16 points by halftime, helping the Berks III champion Tigers (16-2) build a 33-21 lead. They stretched their lead to 53-32 after three quarters.
Soumas has never missed a game in his four years as a starter at Fleetwood, playing in 88 straight. He’s been a rare four-year starter and one of the building blocks in a run that has seen the Tigers win three straight division titles.
“It wasn’t easy coming in as a ninth-grader against these big seniors and being out-matched against bigger bodies,” Soumas said. “I was never much of a scorer, especially in middle school. In ninth grade, I averaged four or five points a game.”
He doubled his scoring total as a sophomore, when he averaged 10.0 points, second on the team to Jake Karnish. He was No. 2 again last season, at 13.6 points per game. This season, with Karnish, the program’s all-time scoring leader, graduated he has taken on a bigger scoring load and is averaging 17.4 points per game.
Though just 5-11 Soumas plays much bigger, in large because of his work in the weight room between his 10th- and 11th-grade seasons. He was much physically stronger and used that to work his way inside and out-muscle the guards trying to defending him.
“Aiden’s been overshadowed the last three years (by Karnish),” said Tigers coach Terry Sitler. “It’s good (to see him) get his due now. He’s a 5-11 guy who plays like a 6-2 guy under the basket, where most of his points (come from).”
Soumas has 13 3-pointers, second on the team, and scores at every level. He’s an aggressive defender, scores in transition and isn’t afraid to mix it up inside against bigger guys. That’s how he has accumulated so many points over the years.
He played Robin to Karnish’s Batman for years; now he’ll end up on a banner in the school gym alongside Karnish as one of only six players in program history to reach 1,000 points.
“It’s nice to get (something like this) any time,” Soumas said. “Scoring it on my home court, that’ll be really special in front of my family and all my friends.”
Soumas will play baseball at Kutztown University but basketball will always have a special place in his heart.
“Basketball has always been so fun to me,” he said. “There’s nothing like coming out on the court on a Friday night and playing in an action-packed game.”
