Once again Saints have have no answers for Anthony Caccese, or Eagles
Matt Ashcroft wanted to change some things up against Berks Catholic Wednesday, but he really didn’t have to.
Ten days after beating the Saints to essentially clinch the Berks II title Exeter rolled out a repeat performance, only better. Anthony Caccese again dominated in the post and the second-seeded Eagles pulled away for a 59-45 victory in a Berks Conference semifinal at Santander Arena.
The 6-6 senior center hit 12-of-17 shots and matched his career high with 27 points, the same number he dropped at Wolf Gymnasium in a 49-45 win over the Saints.
Ashcroft said he wanted to move the All-State lineman around a little more this time but Caccese did most of his damage down on the low blocks where the third-seeded Saints (20-4) once again had no answers for him.
Snip Esterly, his team down six at the half, and his first two options having failed to slow Caccese down, opened the second half with little used 6-2 center Javen Diaz, who has a little more bulk than the Saints’ other post players.
Didn’t matter. Caccese backed him down and scored on Exeter’s first possession of the half and nailed his other two shots of the quarter as Exeter built a 43-34 lead heading into the final quarter.
After that the Eagles withstood the Saints’ fullcourt zone press and hit enough free throws – 8-of-14 over the last four minutes – to put the game away.
The Saints got as close as 50-44 on a basket by Josiah Jordan with 3:45 left, but Caccese, taking a feed from Reece Garvin, answered with a bucket and the Eagles were on their way to the championship game for the first time since Richard Nixon was occupying the Oval Office.
They’ll play top-seeded Reading High Friday at 8 at Santander.
“It’s awesome,” said Ashcroft, who in his fourth season as Exeter coach has taken the team back to the finals for the first time since 1974. “ I’m excited for these guys. It’s nice. It’ll be sweeter if we finish the job Friday.”
Like just about anyone Reading faces over the next 3-4 weeks the Eagles (19-5) will be underdogs against the Red Knights (23-1), but they’ve proven they can play with them. They lost 65-60 in December but have played better and better deeper into the season. They have won nine straight and 13 of their last 14.
It hasn’t all been Caccese, either. He’s their leading scorer and rebounder but they’re a balanced team and strong on offense and defense.
The latter was the key Wednesday when they held the Saints to their lowest scoring total of the season – for the second time. Berks Catholic also was held to 45 in the last meeting.
“Just tremendous, intense defense,” Ashcroft said.
Senior point guard Zyion Paschall was the key. He gave up five inches to Ryan Koch but limited the Saints’ leading scorer to seven shots and a season-low four points. Koch, the program’s all-time 3-point leader, went 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.
“Zyion did an unbelievable job,” said Ashcroft.
One of the keys to the defensive job was the Eagles’ work on the boards. They out-rebounded Berks Catholic 33-18 and allowed just three offensive rebounds – all by guard Josiah Jordan.
Garvin, a 6-3 junior, had a game-high 11 rebounds. Caccese had eight.
Exeter used a 9-0 run to end the first quarter with a 16-10 lead. Caccese got strong position in the low post and his teammates found him, good enough for eight points.
The Saints got a 3-pointer from Jack Miller to spark a 12-4 run to open the second quarter. A 3-pointer by freshman Kingston McKoy pushed the BC lead to 22-20.
Exeter answered with another strong finishing run, getting 3-pointers from Alex Kelsey and Paschall to go into halftime leading 30-24. Caccese had 12 points at the break. He continued to pour it on after intermission, hitting 6-of-7 shots.
He was the beneficiary of some good looks from his teammates. Paschall had a game-high five assists to go with his 10 points. Kevin Saenz and Garvin each had three assists; most of them went directly into the post.
The win was especially gratifying for Ashcroft and the Eagles, who were beaten in the semifinals last year by Berks Catholic, 41-40.
Ashcroft didn’t want to celebrate too much. His goal was to do more than just reach the championship game.
“We still have more work to do,” he said.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 10 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 45 |
| Exeter | 16 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 59 |
| Saints (20-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Geddio | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Jordan | 7-14 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| Koch | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Miller | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| J. McKoy | 4-13 | 2-4 | 4-9 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| K. McKoy | 2-3 | 3-6 | 1-1 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Lawlor | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nein | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Diaz | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-43 | 5-10 | 6-17 | 2 | 16-18 | 45 |
| Eagles (19-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Paschall | 3-9 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| Saenz | 4-6 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Snyder | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garvin | 1-3 | 4-6 | 1-2 | 3 | 11 | 7 |
| Caccese | 12-17 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 8 | 27 |
| Kelsey | 1-1 | 2-5 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Dauble | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sheerin | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bauer | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nester | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21-36 | 14-22 | 3-5 | 13 | 28-33 | 59 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 10, Exeter 12.
