Defense isn’t all there is to Zyion Paschall’s game now
Exeter’s quick exit from the PIAA Tournament last season left a bitter taste in Zyion Paschall’s mouth. Hours after a first-round loss to Chester the junior guard was back in the gym, putting up shots.
“That loss really hurt me,” he said of the 61-52 loss at the Clip Joint. “I hated to see us go out that way. After that I got a lot of shots up, shooting the midrange and the ‘3’. I’m a lot more comfortable this year.”
That was obvious Saturday after when Paschall scored a career-high 12 points in a 54-41 win over visiting Allentown Central Catholic, the Eagles’ second win in about 16 hours (they beat Cedar Crest on the first night of the Exeter Showcase).
Paschall was known as a defensive stopper last season, and a darned good, but he displayed all kinds of offensive skills against the Vikings (0-2). He made 4-of-7 shots, got to the foul line six times, had a game-high seven assists and grabbed seven rebounds — three off the offensive glass.
Last season he averaged 3.5 points and topped double figures once in 26 games, mostly because he wasn’t lookig for his shot.
“We had (All-State guard) Colin (Payne), Ted (Snyder), Cheese (Anthony Caccese), who was dominating near the end of the year, so I felt I didn’t need to score,” he said. “Since we lost Colin, I’m a senior so (I feel) I have to pick it up no matter what.”
In addition to Payne, who averaged 18.4 points, they also needed to replace Joey Schlaffer, their No. 2 scorer. He averaged 10.6 points as a junior but isn’t playing this season because he’s enrolling at Penn State in January, where he’ll play football.
“That’s 30 points,” Eagles coach Matt Ashcroft said. “We have guys that can produce, but lose that scoring output from Joey and Colin, we have to replace that from somewhere. Anthony, Reece (Garvin) and Kevin (Saenz), they’re not all going to increase their output by 10 points each. We need others.”
One of them is Paschall. Ashcroft had conversations with his point guard throughout the offseason, telling him he needed to see more offensive production from him. Paschall took it to heart.
Paschall came up big Saturday down the stretch, scoring seven fourth-quarter points, including a pivotal three-point play with 4:06 left that pushed the Eagles’ lead from five to eight, their largest of the game to that point.
“That was a momentum-changer,” Garvin said. “That ‘and-one’ (he’s) gotta take that every time; that’s (his) shot. Coach tells him: ‘You’ve got a good mid-range, you’ve gotta take it, and he did.”
The Eagles had trouble pulling away; they led just 30-29 before Garvin hit a pair free throws following a technical foul after the third-quarter buzzer.
Everything began to fall into place for them in the fourth quarter when they used a 16-4 closing run to break things open. The 6-7 Caccese, just two weeks removed from football season, finally began to sink some shots in the final quarter, scoring eight of his 10 points. He also had a game-high 15 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Garvin finished with 12 points, Saenz and Snyder had nine apiece. It was exactly the kind of scoring balance Ashcroft is seeking and knows he needs to see in order to give the Eagles a chance to win the Berks Conference Division II title and made another lengthy playoff run.
The defense is certainly there: Allentown Central Catholic made just 13-of-48 shots (27 percent) and needed seven 3’s — including a 60-footer at the end of the first half — to stay close throughout.
Paschall, as good an on-ball defender as you’ll find, is a key on that end. If he can keep scoring he’ll be a plus guy on both sides of the ball.
“People think I’m not going to shoot the ball,” Paschall said. “Last year I wasn’t confident with my shot. This year I’m gonna shoot the ball.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Allentown Central Catholic | 12 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 41 |
| Exeter | 13 | 8 | 11 | 22 | 54 |
| Vikings(0-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Fridia | 0-5 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| Puleri | 2-8 | 2-3 | 2-4 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Jones | 5-11 | 0-0 | 3-6 | 0 | 12 | 13 |
| Vigo | 3-16 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Mushrush | 2-5 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Davis | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Patridge | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ensley | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Spinosa | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gibson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 13-48 | 8-12 | 7-16 | 2 | 39-44 | 41 |
| Eagles (2-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Paschall | 4-7 | 4-6 | 0-1 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| Saenz | 3-7 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Snyder | 3-16 | 1-2 | 2-9 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Garvin | 4-10 | 4-6 | 0-5 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| Caccese | 5-11 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 15 | 10 |
| Kelsey | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Dauble | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 20-55 | 10-20 | 4-17 | 15 | 35-38 | 54 |
Turnovers: Allentown Central Catholic 16, Exeter 9.
