Exeter beats Twin Valley to clinch first division title in 39 seasons
After winning at Berks Catholic last week to move into position to clinch the Berks Conference Division II title Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft talked about the hardships his seniors and juniors have endured the past few seasons.
Like every other team the Eagles faced struggles during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Few faced the kind of obstacles Exeter did during an injury-filled, frustrating season that ended with a 3-14 record.
There was more heartbreak last season, when the underdog Eagles were seconds away from their first Berks Conference championship game in 38 years before the Saints’ Josiah Jordan beat them with a go-ahead basket in the semifinals.
| Berks II | League | Overall |
| Exeter | 10-2 | 17-5 |
| Berks Catholic | 9-3 | 19-3 |
| Conrad Weiser | 3-9 | 7-15 |
| Twin Valley | 3-9 | 4-17 |
| Daniel Boone | 0-12 | 3-19 |
“Covid year, (Berks Catholic) beat us on an Aidan Sands tip-in at the buzzer,” Ashcroft recalled. “There were about 17 people in the stands.”
Those wounds were healed Tuesday when Exeter beat Twin Valley 69-27 to earn the Berks II title, its first division championship since 1984. No one on their bench, including the head coach, was born when that happened.
“I’m proud of ’em,” Ashcroft said last week, after clearing the way for the program’s second division title with a 49-45 comeback win over the Saints. “They’ve been through a lot. There’s not much these juniors and seniors haven’t seen.”
Tuesday, Teddy Snyder led the way, hitting three 3-pointers and finishing with a game- and career-high 19 points. Anthony Caccese, Zyion Paschall and Andrew Bauer each had 10 points.
Kannon Zdimal scored 10 points for the Raiders (3-9, 4-17), who were held under 30 points for just the second time this season.
The win was the seventh straight and 11th in 12 games for the Eagles, who are expected to go into the Berks playoffs as the No. 4 seed. If that’s the case, they’ll host a quarterfinal against the No. 5 seed, which could be Wilson or Muhlenberg.
Exeter is also battling for a top seed in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament. It entered play Tuesday ranked No. 3 with a .715 power rating, only percentage points behind No. 2 Mechanicsburg (.718) and No. 1 Manheim Central (.722). The top two seeds will earn first-round byes.
Exeter has won more than 17 games just once since going 23-7 in 1983-84. That came in 2012-13, when it finished 18-6. The Eagles are in position to win 20 games for just the seventh time in program history. They did it four times in the 1970’s, under Rod Hand, and twice in the 1980’s, under Terry McElhattan.
Berks Catholic had owned the Berks II title. The Saints won nine straight before moving to Division I two seasons ago, where they joined the Eagles along with Berks heavyweights Reading High and Wilson.
Both teams moved to Berks II for this season. The Eagles fared better than the Saints in the crossover games, going 3-1 with wins over Muhlenberg and Wilson; that was the difference. The Saints beat the Bulldogs but lost to the Muhls. Both teams lost to Berks I champ Reading High.
The Saints had won 65 straight games as a member of Berks II and went 96-1 before losing to the Eagles.
Berks Catholic had been a roadblock for Ashcroft – a former Saints assistant – and the Eagles. They had won six straight in the series and 10-of-11 overall. Ashcroft had been 1-6 vs. his former coach, Snip Esterly; they won a state championship together at Central Catholic.
The Saints took the first meeting 73-63 Dec. 22 at Reiffton. The Eagles couldn’t contain Jordan, who went off for a career-high 32 points. In the second meeting they limited the 1,000-point scorer to seven points.
“It’s a feeling like no other,” junior Kevin Saenz said after the breakthrough win. “I’m so proud of myself and my teammates, and my coach.”
Exeter cracked the PIAA Tournament last season for the first time in 23 years, despite entering the postseason with a 10-11 record. They finished 13-15, with three postseason wins.
Exeter’s five losses this season have come against top-shelf competition: Berks I champ Reading High (20-1), PAC-10 Liberty champ Spring-Ford (21-2), Berks Catholic (18-3), Executive Education (15-2) and Perkiomen Valley (15-7).
