Banged up Eagles come up short again, remain in playoff picture

The Exeter Eagles are limping to the finish line. Literally.

They played Saturday without their second-leading scorer Joey Schlaffer, who has a wrist injury.

Top scorer Colin Payne is playing with assorted injuries and obviously was not 100 percent against visiting Perkiomen Valley.

And yet the Eagles nearly gutted out a win against the Vikings. They were within three points in the final minute before dropping the non-leaguer 47-41 at Reiffton.

Junior guard Teddy Snyder scored a game-high 18 points to keep the Eagles (10-10) in it; they fell behind in the opening minute of the third quarter and never could catch the Vikings (15-7).

The loss was the third straight and and sixth in seven games for Exeter, which is battling for a Berks Conference playoff spot and a home game in the opening round of the District 3 Class 5A Tournament.

The Eagles entered play Saturday ranked No. 6 in districts; the top eight teams open at home.

Payne, who has led the league in scoring much of the season, had just one basket in the first half and finished with 10 points, about half his average.

He scored nine points Wednesday in a loss to Berks Catholic; it was just the second time all season he was held to single digits.

“Give him credit (for being out there),” said Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft. “He’s a warrior. Thursday (against Berks Catholic) he went down hard a couple times. He’s obviously batting through (some things).”

Schlaffer, a 6-6 Penn State football recruit, missed his second straight game.

Even at that the Eagles led 29-28 after three quarters. Defense, said Ashcroft, is the reason.

“As much as we’re struggling on offense right now, our defense is unbelievable,” he said. “(Zyion) Paschall held (Perkiomen Valley’s leading scorer Julian Sadler) to four points, and they were all in transition. He guarded him 94 feet.

“We found our identity, and that’s defense and hammering the glass. We have guys like Teddy and Alex Kelsey and Joey and Zyion Paschall . . . those guys are playing unbelievable defense right now. I know it’s crazy to say, but I’m confident. Defense can win you games.”

The Vikings are in second place in the PAC-10 Liberty Division, behind Methacton.

The Eagles wrap up the regular season Tuesday at Gov. Mifflin. They’ll go into that game with a slight lead in power ratings over Mifflin and Tulpehocken; those three teams are battling for the second wild card spot and final spot in the Berks Conference tournament. Just one will make it.

Division champs Reading High, Muhlenberg and Fleetwood have locked up their spots. Either Berks Catholic or Wilson will earn the Berks I-II runner-up spot; the other will earn the first wild card spot. Wyomissing has clinched the Berks III-IV runner-up spot.

Antietam has a one-game lead over Tulpehocken in Berks IV. Those teams meet Tuesday. If the Trojans win the tiebreaker will be power rating and the Mounts have a big advantage there right now. That means Tulpehocken’s Berks playoff hopes rely on finishing ahead of both Exeter and Gov. Mifflin in the power ratings.

However it shakes down, Ashcroft remains upbeat.

“I know it’s crazy to say, but I’m confident,” he said. “We get healthy, we think we’re going to be really dangerous.”