Tigers knock off Panthers in Berks III battle, show they still ‘have the pieces to win again’
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Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not, but when Fleetwood really needed a bucket in the final quarter Tuesday against division rival Schuylkill Valley the ball ended up in Aiden Soumas’ hands.
First he grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in. A minute later he posted up down low and muscled in a shot.
“He finds that spot down low,” marveled teammate Nate Herb. “He loves to get under the basket, and once he gets in there it’s almost a guaranteed a bucket.”
When the Tigers needed a money shot last season they always went to Jake Karnish, and he delivered – enough for them to win 22 games, reach the District 3 Class 4A championship game and qualify for the PIAA Tournament.
Fleetwood’s all-time leading scorer is gone now but the wins keep on coming. The Tigers remained unbeaten Tuesday, turning back a strong bid from the Panthers with a big fourth-quarter run to earn a 51-38 victory in Berks Conference Division III play.
The Tigers (2-0, 6-0) haven’t found a way to fully replace the All-State pick or his 21 points a game but they keep finding ways to pull out close wins.
They saw a big lead turn to dust early in the fourth quarter when Schuylkill Valley’s Cooper Hohenadel, with the aid of a technical foul, squeeze five points into one possession.
That trimmed Fleetwood’s lead to 34-32 early in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers, a team with five seniors in the starting lineup and with guys who have played together since they were fifth-graders, responded the way you’d expect from veteran team with a strong track record.
Soumas’ back-to-back baskets sparked a 13-0 run that turned a close game into a rout.
They held Schuylkill Valley without a point for nearly six minutes.
“The mental part of the game is huge,” said Soumas, who said he and his teammates did a mental reset after Schuylkill Valley made it a one-possession game. “I think we handled it pretty well.”
All five starters scored during the decisive 13-point run, which is probably no coincidence.
Herb, who finished with a game- and season-high 15 points, made the biggest play in the run – and it wasn’t a shot. He drove the lane, then dished to the corner where Liam Hilburt buried a 3-pointer for a 41-32 lead.
Hilburt finished with 12 points, Soumas with 13 and Hunter Svoboda with nine. Mason Musitano, who returned to the team this season after sitting out last year, didn’t score much but played aggressively under the boards and snagged a game-high 11 rebounds.
“Everybody’s just kind of chipping in a little bit more than last year,” Herb said. “It’s not one person that’s trying to make up (Jake’s) 20 points, it’s a team effort. We’re getting a few more points each that’ll add up to points that we are missing from him.”
Hilburt and Svoboda are each scoring about four points more a game this season than last. Soumas’ scoring average is up about 2.5 points, Herb’s about one point.
“We don’t have one leader anymore,” said Fleetwood coach Terry Sitler. “Jake was head and shoulders above everybody else. Now we have five leaders out on the floor, and in the locker room.”
Sitler said the team still misses Karnish and all the things he could do for the team. He said this team is still a work in progress.
“That’s what we’re still dealing with,” he said, “figuring out who does what. It’s starting to come together.”
The Tigers have won back-to-back Berks III titles and look capable of a three-peat. They took a big step toward that Tuesday. Their next big league challenge will come in early January when they head to Wyomissing.
“Even though we lost Jake and Braden (Williams), we have the pieces to do it again,” Herb said. “Everybody’s just doing their part. We had a lot of experience coming back, so we didn’t expect anything less.”
“This group’s been playing together since we were in fifth, sixth grade,” said Soumas. “We’ve got great team chemistry. You couldn’t ask for a better team or a better start.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Schuylkill Valley | 4 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 38 |
| Fleetwood | 10 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 51 |
| Panthers (5-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Giuffre | 4-9 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
| Zimmerman | 1-10 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Spotts | 3-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| Gerner | 2-7 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Hohenadel | 2-10 | 3-3 | 1-8 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Kemmerer | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Cammauf | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Reeser | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McGonigle | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Torres | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Staus | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 15-53 | 4-5 | 4-16 | 7 | 26/29 | 38 |
| Tigers (6-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Musitano | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
| Hilburt | 4-9 | 1-4 | 3-7 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| Soumas | 5-13 | 3-8 | 0-3 | 2 | 6 | 13 |
| Herb | 5-11 | 5-7 | 0-1 | 4 | 5 | 15 |
| Svoboda | 4-6 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| Senna | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sandt | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 19-43 | 10-23 | 3-13 | 8 | 33/38 | 51 |
Turnovers: Schuylkill Valley 14, Fleetwood 16. Team rebounds: Schuylkill Valley 3, Fleetwood 5.
