Big playoff wins for Exeter Eagles should no longer come as a surprise
When Exeter opened the Berks Conference playoffs with a win at Wilson last season it was a stunner. The Eagles came into that matchup with a losing record, without their No. 2 scorer, Joey Schlaffer, and after a pair of regular-season losses to the Bulldogs.
A year later it’s a totally different story for the Eagles. No one should be surprised if they continue to win and advance. They certainly won’t be.
“We definitely have more confidence this season,” said junior Reece Garvin after scoring a game- and career-high 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a 68-35 quarterfinal victory Monday over seventh-seeded Oley Valley at Reiffton.
“We don’t go into any game thinking we’re going to lose,” Garvin said. “We just have that in us this year. When we beat Cedar Crest by 20 points in the first game of the season, we were all ready and all locked in and it’s just been like that ever since. We don’t think anyone can take us down.”
The Berks IV champion Lynx (18-5) looked like they might. They started fast, ran their offense well and knocked down open shots in the early minutes, pulling out to a 9-2 lead.
The Berks II champion Eagles (18-5) shook that off with ease. They rolled out a 2-2-1 halfcourt trap, disrupted the Lynx’s offense and pulled away to an easy win.
Nothing came easily for them last year when they navigated their way through the playoffs as though they were in a demolition derby. They took plenty of hits, ended up with lot of bumps and scrapes, but pushed through.
That kind of experience, nightly physical and emotional challenges, is now paying dividends said Eagles coach Matt Ashcroft.
“That playoff run really helped (us),” Ashcroft said. “Playing (seven) postseason games was huge for our sophomore class. The experience is starting to show.”
The Eagles responded to Oley Valley’s fast start by running off 15 straight points over the end of the first quarter and opening minute of the second. Anthony Caccese’s first basket of the game put them up 20-10.
They were up 11 at the half and by 20 midway through the third period.
“They showed their experience tonight,” Ashcroft said. “(After) getting down 9-2 . . . they stayed the course.”
The defensive switch, designed to speed up the Lynx, did the trick. Oley, which entered riding an 11-game winning streak, went nearly 6 ½ minutes without a field goal and fell behind by 10.
The Lynx were never able to recover. They began forcing shots and ended up with a season-low scoring total.
“Our fullcourt press definitely had them rattled,” Garvin said. “That was definitely a difference-maker tonight. We’ve had that in our back pocket throughout the whole season (but haven’t used it much). Tonight, it definitely benefitted us.”
Caccese, who went scoreless in the first quarter, had eight points in the second as the Eagles took a 32-21 lead into intermission. He finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and had 10 rebounds.
Garvin said his shot felt good during warm-ups and he knew he was in for a big night. He hit 8-of-13 shots overall and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter. He had four 3’s for the game and leads the team with 38.
He came into the program two years ago as strictly a shooter. He expanded his game last season, when he grew and became a strong defense. This season he’s improved his shooting and added a mid-range game. He leads the Eagles’ balanced scoring attack, averaging 11.8 points.
“He’s really become a complete player,” Ashcroft said. “We’ve seen Reece take two gigantic steps (in his development), from freshman to sophomore year, and then from sophomore year again to this year. He’s a well-round offensive player and our second-best rebounder (behind the 6-6 Caccese). And he can guard the 1 through the 4. He’s 6-3 but he has the wing span of (someone) 6-8.”
Exeter advances to face Berks Catholic for the third time this season Wednesday in a 6 o’clock semifinal at Santander Arena. The teams split their two Division II meetings this season but none of that matters now, said Garvin. Not the Eagles’ 10-point loss in Reiffton in December, not their breakthrough 49-45 win at Wolf Gymnasium earlier this month.
“Our mindset is that we’re 0-0 coming into the playoffs,” he said. “Everything we’ve done in the regular season doesn’t matter, it’s the postseason now and we just go one game at a time.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Oley Valley | 10 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 35 |
| Exeter | 18 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 68 |
| Lynx (18-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Neal | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Kelly | 3-6 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| Rubendall | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| DeBalko | 2-10 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| D. Turchi | 3-14 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| J. Turchi | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| N. DeBalko | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| L. Turchi | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Smith | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Cappellan | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Haines | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 14-51 | 3-4 | 4-16 | 2 | 26-32 | 35 |
| Eagles (18-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Paschall | 6-15 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Saenz | 3-9 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Snyder | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Garvin | 8-13 | 4-9 | 0-0 | 1 | 13 | 20 |
| Caccese | 8-13 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 10 | 17 |
| Kelsey | 2-7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| Dauble | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Nester | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bauer | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Turman | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Ware | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 30-70 | 2-3 | 6-19 | 18 | 46-48 | 68 |
Turnovers: Oley Valley 13, Exeter 11.
