Exeter undaunted by imposing Imhotep: ‘We’re not settling for second’

You can forgive Aidan Dauble for being overly enthusiastic. The normally placid 14-year-old Exeter freshman was coming off the biggest game of his life, a pulsating 51-47 win over Erie Cathedral Prep in which he scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds.

The win catapulted the Eagles into a PIAA Class 5A championship game Dauble has been eagerly anticipating for months.

“I’m just so excited to get down there and play against Justin Edwards,” he said of the Imhotep Charter star. “I can’t wait to compete with him, and hopefully we can win.”

There’s an old saying: Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.

In mid-January Eagles coach Matt Ashcroft revealed the confidence he had in his team by telling them they would end the season by playing the defending state champs. It sounded good at the time and motivated his guys, who went on to win their first District 3 title and have reached the state championship game for the first time in 49 years.

Now that the Eagles (27-6) are here they are faced with the reality that for the first time all season they will take the court as a decided underdog when they take the floor Friday at 8 at Giant Center.

They weren’t favored against Reading High in the Berks Conference championship but many believed they had a shot. And they did: Exeter led by 10 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold on. It lost No. 2 scorer Reece Garvin to a first-half ankle injury and saw Kevin Saenz foul out with four minutes to play.

As good as the Red Knights are – they’ll be playing for the Class 6A championship Saturday – they might not be in Imhotep Charter’s class. Few teams are.

The Panthers (28-3) are ranked No. 11 in the nation. They’ve played a national schedule. And they feature Edwards, a Kentucky recruit ranked as the No. 1 player in the nation by ESPN.com.

Edwards is part of a Panthers team that includes 6-2 guard Ahmad Nowell, ranked among the top juniors in the nation, and 6-1 senior point guard Rahmir Barno, who’s committed to play at Florida Gulf Coast.

Edwards and Barno were All-State first-team picks last year, Nowell was a second-team pick.

Exeter has one Division I recruit, 6-6 Anthony Caccese, but he’ll be playing football at the University of Delaware, not basketball.

Several of his teammates have the potential to play college basketball but their future games won’t be televised by ESPN, as Edwards’ will.

The SEC-bound 6-7 senior is one of three 1,000-point scorers in an imposing rotation that includes 6-2 shooter Yahmir Satterfield, 6-4 wing Baasil Saunders, 6-7 Makye Taylor and 6-6 Jeremiah White.

“They’re bigger and longer (than Reading),” Ashcroft said. “They come at you in waves. We always say Reading’s gonna hit you with two or three waves during the game. Can you sustain all those blows and continue to punch back?”

Exeter hung with Reading twice, but lost each time, 65-60 and 70-63.

The Eagles have had a tremendous ride. They won their first division title in nearly 40 years. Reached their first county championship game since 1974. Won their first district title. They have gone 9-1 in the postseason, winning more playoff games than any team in Exeter history.

Their 26 wins are second-most in program history. They are, along with several of the Rod Hand-coached teams from the early 1970’s, considered one of the best teams in program history.

As fate would have it they’re paired against a team some believe is the best in Imhotep history, which is saying a lot. The Panthers have won eight PIAA championships since 2009. They’ve never lost a state title game. They’ve won an incredible 26 straight state playoff games. They are a true dynasty.

Imhotep hasn’t been beaten in a PIAA Tournament game since 2016, when it lost to eventual state champ Neumann-Goretti in a Class 3A semifinal. In 2020 the Panthers won their first two tournament games before play was suspended by the coronavirus outbreak. In 2021 they were 14-0 but were not allowed by their school to participate in the tournament, again because of COVID-19 concerns. They could’ve won another state title or two.

They won Class 4A titles in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and the Class 5A title last year, beating New Castle 54-39. The higher classification hasn’t slowed them one bit: They have won their state games by 52, 36, 27 and 22 points this year. The second win in that string came against Muhlenberg, 68-32. Their nine wins in Class 5A have come by an average of 26 points; just one was closer than 15.

The Panthers beat West Philadelphia last month by 29 points for their third straight Public League championship. They beat Archbishop Ryan 69-58 in the District 12 championship game; it was one of the few times they have been tested this season.

Their losses came against Long Island Lutheran of Brookville, N.Y., currently ranked No. 4 in the nation by ESPN; Simeon, of Chicago; and Camden, N.J., ranked No. 13 in the nation.

Edwards is the first Public League player named an All-American since Rasheed Wallace in 1993. Most believe he’ll play for John Calipari for just one season: He’s already projected as a top five pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

Ashcroft has faith in his team. He saw the pieces in place for an extended state run months ago and has seen it peak in the postseason, showing the resilience to survive some tight spots.

“We think we’re a really good basketball team,” he said, explaining his prediction two months ago. “We don’t think many teams out there are as efficient as we are on both ends of the floor.”

He’s a realist, too. He understands what his team is up against but remains undaunted.

“We’re excited,” he said. “We’re gonna give everything we have. We’re not settling for second place.”