Monster night by Anthony Caccese helps carry Exeter over BC in Berks II thriller (updated)

(This story will be updated with game details, post-game reaction and photographs.)

Anthony Caccese played through foul trouble to score a game-high 27 points as Exeter defeated Berks Catholic 49-45 Thursday to take over sole possession of first place in Division II of the Berks Conference.

If the Eagles (9-2, 15-5) beat Twin Valley Tuesday they’ll win their first Berks II title, and first division title since 1984.

The Saints (8-3, 17-3) saw their streak of 65 straight Berks II victories snapped.

Caccese, a 6-6 senior who will play football at Delaware, drew his third foul just six minutes into the game and his fourth with 7:13 left. He remained on the floor after drawing his fourth and scored three baskets to help the Eagles erase the Saints’ 36-32 lead heading into the final quarter.

Exeter took the lead for good at 45-43 on Zyion Paschall’s foul line jumper with 1:47 left. Berks Catholic scored just two points over the final 2 /12 minutes.

Caccese scored 19 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 17 rebounds. Exeter out-rebounded BC 42-26.

Ryan Koch led BC with 12 points and eight rebounds; Josh McKoy had 10 points.

The Saints went up early, with Koch and Jackson Geddio hitting 3-pointers to help build an 8-4 lead.

Caccese dominated the early minutes, with seven rebounds in the first six minutes. He picked up three quick fouls and went to the bench with 2:03 left in the first period and the Eagles trailing by four.

Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft took a chance and sent Caccese back into the game 90 seconds into the second quarter, and the move paid off. Caccese, setting up on the low post, scored three baskets to help Exeter pull within 17-15.

McKoy beat the buzzer on a baseline drive to send Berks Catholic into halftime leading 19-15.

Jack Miller hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter, the last of them extending the Saints’ lead to 37-29 in the final minute of the quarter.

Kevin Saenz’s 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter but Berks Catholic’s lead to 36-35.

Saenz hit a pair of free throws with 24.5 seconds left to extend Exeter’s lead to 47-43. Josiah Jordan’s drive cut it to 47-45 with 19 seconds left but the Saints got no closer.

The Saints took the first meeting 73-63 Dec. 22 at Reiffton. The Eagles couldn’t contain Jordan, who went off for a career-high 32 points. This time the 1,000-point scorer was limited to seven points, and none in the first half; Kevin Saenz had the defensive assignment on Jordan most of the night.

The Eagles have had trouble getting past the Saints: They had lost six straight in the series and 10-of-11 overall. Ashcroft was 1-6 vs. his former coach, Snip Esterly; they won a state championship together at Central Catholic.

Then again everyone in Division II has trouble getting past the Saints. Berks Catholic had gone 96-1 overall before Thursday, with nine division titles in nine previous seasons playing in the division.

Berks Catholic played in Berks the past two seasons before returning to Berks II this season.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Exeter	6	9	17	17	49
Berks Catholic	12	7	17	9	45

Eagles (15-5)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Paschall	2-8	3-4	1-3	3	4	8
Saenz	2-10	4-6	1-3	4	6	9
Snyder	0-2	2-2	0-1	0	0	2
Garvin	1-6	0-1	1-5	3	6	3
Cacchese	13-19	1-3	0-0	0	17	27
Sheerin	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Dauble	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Kelsey	0-4	0-0	0-0	2	4	0
Totals	18-50	10-16	3-12	12	39-42	49

Saints (17-3)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Geddio	1-5	0-0	1-2	1	0	3
Jordan	3-7	0-4	1-1	1	5	7
Koch	5-18	0-0	2-11	1	8	12
Miller	3-5	0-0	3-5	0	3	9
J. McKoy	4-13	1-2	1-3	2	6	10
K. McKoy	2-3	0-0	0-0	0	3	4
Nein	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Lawlor	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	18-52	1-6	8-22	5	25-26	45

Turnovers: Exeter 7, Berks Catholic 7.