Anthony Caccese has become center of attention for Exeter, opponents
At 6-6, 280 pounds Anthony Caccese towers over his opponents. Even moreso over his fans.
More and more, as the Exeter Eagles basketball team advances through the postseason, Caccese is sought after games by future Eagles wanting him to sign a T-shirt or sneaker or pose for a photo.
“It’s just crazy to see these little kids come and want to take pictures with me,” said Caccese. “I saw (football teammate) Joey (Schlaffer, a Penn State recruit) doing it before, and I thought it was just gonna be him.”
“Cheese,” as he’s known by his teammates, will be handed even more sharpies if the Eagles win their PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal Friday against District 7 runner-up Peters Township at Bald Eagle High School at 6.
Caccese has been the center of attention throughout the postseason. He’s recorded five straight double-doubles and seven in nine postseason games – eight of them wins. He’s shooting 72 percent from the field, averaging 17.0 points and 11.2 rebounds.
The All-Berks center was a key figure again Tuesday in a 66-49 win over Mechanicsburg; he had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
He makes the Eagles’ offense work because he forces teams to tilt their defense to him, freeing up Exeter’s array of outside shooters. If defenses don’t sag or overplay him, guards Zyion Paschall and Kevin Saenz are adept at getting him the ball in favorable position on the low blocks.
That was the case Tuesday. Mechanicsburg tried to take Caccese away; he got just three shots in the first half, one a putback that gave Exeter a 29-28 halftime lead.
“Teams in the state playoffs are just not going to allow you to go into your big guy 30 times a night,” said Eagles coach Matt Aschroft. “To have (shooters) like Teddy (Snyder) and Reece (Garvin), Kevin, Zyion and Aidan (Dauble) to be able to stretch the court like that is pretty special. There’s not too many teams that have that 1-2 punch.”
The Eagles pulled away in the fourth quarter as Garvin, who scored a career-high 21 points, dropped a pair of 3’s. Overall, Exeter was 8-of-18 on 3-pointers.
“Our shooters were shooting great, and it started opening up in the middle,” said Caccese, who had more touches in the second half and scored six fourth-quarter points.
Four Exeter starters have 20 or more 3’s, led by Garvin’s 44 (in 26 games) and Snyder’s 43.
Like most of the teams Exeter has faced in the postseason, Peters Township doesn’t have anyone quite Caccese’s size; the tallest player on its roster is starting center Jake Ziegler, a 6-4 senior. Only one other player is taller than 6-2.
Like the Eagles, the Indians (24-4) score a lot of points from beyond the 3-point arc. Jack Dunbar, a 6-3 junior, averages a team-leading 18.0 points. All-League point guard Brendan McCullough, a 6-1 senior, averages 15.0 points. Like Caccese, he’s also an outstanding football player; he was selected to play in the East/West game. Dunbar scored a season-high 37 points in a 105-100 triple-overtime loss to Thomas Jefferson.
The Indians put up a lot of points: They’re averaging 73.1, highest among Class 5A teams in the WPIAL.
Like Exeter, this playoff ride has been a long time coming for the Indians. This is their first quarterfinal appearance since 1997. They didn’t make the playoffs last season, when they finished 8-14.
Also like the Eagles, they’re a hot team. They had a 15-game winning streak snapped in the District 7 title game, a 70-65 loss to Penn Hills. They have won 17 of their last 18.
Caccese, a Big 33 pick who will play football at Delaware, now has a pair of district gold medals. He got the first anchoring the lines for Exeter’s first Class 5A football championship as a junior, along with Schlaffer. The second came earlier this month in basketball, when the Eagles won their first district hoops title.
They make history now with each passing win. Their 26th victory ranks second in program history. Only the 1973-74 team, which went 30-3 and reached the PIAA championship game, has won more games in a season.
This is the first Exeter basketball team to reach the Elite Eight since that team and only the second in program history.
“This is what I dreamed of as a kid,” Caccese said of advancing through the state tourney. “It’s just a blast.”
