Banner effort lifts Exeter Eagles to first District 3 basketball championship
HERSHEY — Next time the Exeter Eagles check into practice they won’t have to stare at the blank space on the basketball championship banner and cringe. They’ve picked up something to fill that void.
Another dominant performance by Anthony Caccese, tremendous defensive work by their guards and a miraculous return by injured Reece Garvin led the Eagles to a 67-53 victory over top-seeded Manheim Central and the District 3 Class 5A title, the first for the program.
“Now we have something to put on that banner under district champs,” said Exeter junior Kevin Saenz. “Right now it has 1972 and 1974 under county titles, and no numbers under districts. I’m glad it’s going to say 2023.”
Exeter had reached the district title game three times, most recently in 1983, but never came home with gold until Thursday.
The Eagles got 22 points and 10 rebounds from the 6-6 Caccese and, thanks to the defense of Zyion Paschall and Alex Kelsey, were able to keep Barons (22-6) scoring ace Trey Grube relatively under wraps. He scored a team-high 19 points, a couple under his average, but never took over the game with his lethal outside shooting.
“We made him work for his points,” said Eagles coach Matt Ashcroft. “Alex and Zyion, and Reece for a little bit, what a great job they did. For them to do that to that kind of a scorer — he’s going to score 2,000 points in college — that tells you whaat kind of toughness these guys have.”
“We knew our defense was gonna be a problem for him,” Caccese said. “He didn’t have a game like he usually has, and that’s because our guards were able to come out and shut down their guards.”
The game was tight for first 12 minutes –it was tied six times in the first quarter — before the third-seeded Eagles (23-6) made a concerted effort to get the ball into their All-Berks center. Caccese, taking passes from Kelsey and Paschall, scored three straight Exeter baskets for a 25-21 lead with 2:26 left in the half.
A three-point play by Garvin pushed the lead to seven, and his free throw with 1:02 left made it 30-22. Cachese closed the half by putting back Paschall’s miss at the buzzer for a 32-23 halftime lead. He had 16 first-half points on 8-of-9 shooting.
“We learned from the Reading game (a loss in the Berks Conference championship) to keep calm and not to panic against pressure,” Saenz said. “We were able to break their pressure pressure and find Cheese down low.”
“He’s a beast,” Ashcroft said of Caccese, “and our perimeter passers are so skilled at getting him the basketball.”
Exeter began to put the game away when it opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run, with Garvin driving and dishing for baskets to Cacchese and Aidan Dauble. The lead reached 19 when Teddy Snyder dumped in a 3-pointer with 2:20 left.
Garvin, who had not played in nearly two weeks since injuring his ankle in the Berks Conference championship game against Reading High, provided a huge spark. He was only cleared to play Wednesday morning, practiced with the team for the first time that day and came out and had 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists on the big stage.
He looked like he hadn’t missed a beat.
“He changes the complexion of our team when he’s on the court,” Ashcroft said. “He’s a relentless rebounder, he’s such a good offensive player, he adds length to our defense and he’s a 79-percent foul shooter. “
Exeter heads to the PIAA Tournament where it will open at home March 10 against the seventh-place team from District 7. They may have played their best game of the season Thursday but Saenz said the Eagles only getting started.
“We have so much more in us,” he said. “We haven’t played our best yet.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Exeter | 13 | 19 | 12 | 23 | 67 |
| Manheim Central | 13 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 53 |
| Eagles (23-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Paschall | 3-7 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Saenz | 4-9 | 4-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Snyder | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Garvin | 3-5 | 5-5 | 0-1 | 4 | 10 | 11 |
| Cacchese | 11-16 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 10 | 22 |
| Kelsey | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Dauble | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sheerin | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bauer | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 26-47 | 13-15 | 2-5 | 15 | 34-36 | 67 |
| Barons (22-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Grube | 8-15 | 1-2 | 2-7 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| Enterline | 7-16 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 1 | 5 | 14 |
| Tracy | 2-3 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Benner | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Book | 0-3 | 5-5 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Neiler | 2-3 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Witmer | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Hahn | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fahnestock | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 20-47 | 10-15 | 3-16 | 6 | 15-17 | 53 |
Turnovers: Exeter 15, Manheim Central 6.
