Jason – Berks Sports Report

Jason Bieber-Fleetwood

Paul Roberts — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 20:33:55 +0000

Fleetwood’s boys basketball team is getting a makeover. The Tigers will look much different this winter. They’ll have five new starters and a new head coach. Jason Bieber takes over for Terry Sitler who retired after twelve years. Bieber is no stranger to Fleetwood. He graduated from the high school in 1994 and lives in the district. In fact, his first coaching position was as an assistant for the Tigers’ boys basketball team. Bieber spent the past two seasons as the girls basketball head coach at Brandywine Heights. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the Tulpehocken and Boyertown girls basketball teams. Bieber was with the Trojans for four years. He led the Bears for thirteen seasons. In 2017, Boyertown won the PIAA-6A championship. “It was a magical year…we had five girls that all played college basketball. It was just putting them on the court and guiding them in the right direction,” said Bieber. There will be a bunch of fresh faces in Fleetwood’s lineup this winter. Aiden Soumas, Nate Herb, Hunter Svoboda, Liam Hilburt, and Mason Musitano all graduated after a (20-6) campaign. A lot of playing time will be available in 2024-25. “You all have your opportunity now. It’s brand new, everybody gets a fresh slate,” Bieber told the returning players. He has an overall record of (264-216). Bieber prefers a structured offense. “I do like a lot of sets. We usually have about 6-7 set pieces,” he noted. Bieber is still learning the landscape in the Berks Boys Basketball Conference, but he’s optimistic. “I think we’ll fit in just fine in Berks III and IV. I think a lot of the teams are very similar there,” he replied.

Fleetwood hires Bieber

Paul Roberts — Tue, 14 May 2024 22:15:00 +0000

Jason Bieber is very familiar with Fleetwood. He graduated from the high school there in 1994. Bieber’s first coaching job was with the Tigers’ boys basketball team. He was an assistant under Joey Palacz thirty years ago. On Tuesday night, Bieber was officially approved as Fleetwood’s varsity boys basketball coach.

Bieber spent the past two years as the head coach of the Brandywine Heights’ girls basketball team. The Bullets went (14-8) last season, but missed the Berks County and District 3 playoffs. He has an overall record of (264-216). Bieber spent four years coaching the girls team at Tulpehocken. He was the Boyertown girls basketball coach for 13 seasons. Bieber guided the Bears to the Class 6A state championship in 2017. Boyertown defeated North Allegheny 46-35 at the Giant Center in Hershey.

There was an opening at Fleetwood after Terry Sitler retired. He led the Tigers for a dozen years with a mark of (138-126). Fleetwood finished (22-5) two seasons ago and was the District 3-4A runner-up. That squad included Jake Karnish who ended his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,420 points. The Tigers were (20-6) this year. Their starting lineup featured five seniors and included 1,000-point scorer Aiden Soumas. Fleetwood wound up fourth in the District 3-4A tournament. The Tigers lost 79-52 to Scranton Prep in the first round of the state playoffs. Sitler was (264-294) overall including his twelve seasons at Brandywine Heights. Bieber said he’s excited for this new opportunity.

Jason Bagenstose-Schuylkill Valley

Paul Roberts — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 23:50:00 +0000

Panthers’ head coach Jason Bagenstose has been telling Lekaiah Solomon to look to score more. The 5’8 senior took that advice to heart on Tuesday in a key crossover matchup with Division 4 leader Brandywine Heights. Solomon finished with a game-high 13 points, two shy of her career-best, in a 30-26 victory. Her clutch free throws with 16 seconds left gave Schuylkill Valley a 28-26 advantage. Bagenstose said Solomon was exactly who he wanted at the line in that situation. She contributed in every way against the (10-2, 6-1) Bullets. Solomon ended up with eleven rebounds and eight steals. The (13-1, 6-0) Panthers forced 26 turnovers. Senior guard Jadyn Heck-Hoppes added seven points. I asked Bagenstose how he gets his players to buy in on the defensive end. They didn’t allow more than eight points in any quarter. Schuylkill Valley came into this one giving up just 31 points per game, second to Brandywine Heights in the Berks League. It turned out to be a defensive battle as expected. The Panthers jumped out to an early 10-2 advantage. They were in front 18-14 at halftime and 23-22 after the third quarter. The Bullets, who were averaging 44 points, took their first lead with less than three minutes to go on Addison Benner’s turnaround shot in the lane. The promising 5’11 freshman finished with a team-high nine points. Sophomore Olivia Moyer was fouled on a drive with eleven seconds left. She had to be helped off the court. Caroline Fenstermacher came off the Brandywine Heights’ bench to shoot the free throws for Moyer. She missed both and Schuylkill Valley tracked down the loose ball near midcourt. Sophomore point guard Natane White sank two free throws to ice it. The Panthers went 12-21 from the stripe, while the Bullets were 3-10. After winning its first ten games, Brandywine Heights has dropped two straight. The Bullets lost 51-42 to Pine Grove on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Panthers’ winning streak was extended to four. Bagenstose told me that this year’s team gets along better than any team that he has coached in basketball and soccer. There are four seniors in the starting lineup including leading scorer Madison Ziska. She’s committed to Mansfield for track & field. We also discussed the fan support in Leesport. Schuylkill Valley held a “Gold Out” to raise money for the Four Diamonds organization which fights childhood cancer.