Exeter even more motivated for district run after losing in Berks title game
Coming up short in the final minutes of the Berks Conference championship game against Reading High was devastating for the Exeter Eagles, but they didn’t stay down long.
The morning after that loss Zyion Paschall texted his coach and asked if he could get in the gym and put up some shots; about half his teammates joined him for the unscheduled shoot-around.
“That (loss) just motivated me more,” said the senior guard. “It hurt, so we’re gonna practice and player even harder than we did (before).”
The Eagles showed no signs of a championship hangover in their District 3 Class 5A opener Monday, breezing past 14th-seeded Shippensburg 72-47 despite missing one of their top players.
The third-seeded Eagles (20-6) were without injured junior forward Reece Garvin, their No. 2 scorer and rebounder. He sprained his ankle against Reading and likely won’t play Thursday in a quarterfinal against sixth-seeded Milton Hershey. It’s possible Exeter could be without him for the remainder of the tournament, which concludes March 2.
No matter, said Paschall. He’s as determined as ever to take Exeter back to a district final for the first time in 40 years.
“If one’s down, we’ve still gotta play,” Paschall said. “We’re still playing our game. We’re just down one shooter.”
The Eagles didn’t miss the 6-3 Garvin, their team leader in 3-pointers, at least not on this night.
Teddy Snyder helped fill that void, knocking down three straight from beyond the arc to help the Eagles pull ahead by nine points late in the first quarter. He finished with a game-high 18 points, one short of his career high.
“Teddy stepped up tonight, hit a couple 3’s in the beginning game,” Paschall said. “After he hit his first one I knew he was hot, so I just kept feeding him the ball, and he kept hitting.”
The Greyhounds (12-9) were intent on not letting 6-6 All-Berks center Anthony Caccese dominate the post so they surrounded him with a 2-3 zone and left the corners open. Snyder and Kevin Saenz, who hit a pair of 3’s and finished with 14 points, took advantage.
Paschall, the All-Berks point guard, effectively got the ball to his wing shooters. He finished with a game-high 11 assists to go with 15 points. The Eagles had 18 assists on their 28 baskets.
“Boy, we shared the ball (and got) quality shots,” said Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft. “Zyion was outstanding.”
Even without Garvin, who averages 11.0 points, the Eagles were as balanced as ever on offense. Caccese scored 11 points on just seven shots. Alex Kelsey, a physical junior guard who stepped into the starting lineup, had nine points and five rebounds.
Rebounding, Ashcroft said, is critical right now. That’s what he emphasized most to his guys; without Garvin, who has a long wingspan and aggressively gets the ball off the glass, everyone else has to pitch in.
“Reece is so vital to our offense, he’s so vital to our defense, because of his length and aggressiveness, and he’s so important to us on the glass because of how aggressive he is,” Ashcroft said. “It’s hard to replace a guy like that.”
It’ll be a bigger challenge Thursday when the Eagles face Milton Hershey (18-5), which dispatched No. 11 Red Land 75-48.
The victory was significant for a couple reasons.
The Berks II champion Eagles reached the 20-win mark for the first time in 39 years and clinched back-to-back PIAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1983 and 1984. The top eight teams in Class 5A advance to the state tournament.
Even with a loss to Milton Hershey, Exeter will go into the playback bracket and play at least three more games – two in districts, one in states. If Exeter wins its in a district semifinal for the first time since 1984.
“We knew tonight would solidify another state bid, but more importantly it guaranteed that we’re spending more time together,” Ashcroft said. “Our goal is to spend as much time together as possible. Time is fleeting; there’s only four or five weeks left in the season; we want every one of those four or five weeks.”
With Garvin on the floor the Eagles are as good as any team in the Class 5A bracket, which lacks a powerhouse team. Without him? It remains to be seen how far they can get.
“Our message to them: Go win a couple games for Reece so when he comes back we’re at full strength, whether that’s Thursday, whether that’s Monday. And (when that happens) we love our chances.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Shippensburg | 11 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 47 |
| Exeter | 18 | 20 | 19 | 13 | 72 |
| Greyhounds (12-9) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Trn | 3-7 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Kater | 2-7 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Stought | 2-10 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Fogelsonger | 3-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Michajluk | 3-8 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Chamberlain | 4-7 | 0-0 | 4-7 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
| Kelso | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Getic | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Stine | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-48 | 4-6 | 7-17 | 5 | 23-23 | 47 |
| Eagles (20-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Paschall | 7-12 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 11 | 4 | 15 |
| Kelsey | 3-5 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Saenz | 5-9 | 2-2 | 2-4 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Snyder | 7-14 | 0-0 | 4-9 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| Cacchese | 5-7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 9 | 11 |
| Dauble | 1-2 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Turman | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Nester | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ware | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Bauer | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Murray | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Orbe Ochoa | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 28-54 | 7-7 | 9-21 | 18 | 29-34 | 72 |
Turnovers: Shippensburg 12, Exeter 12.
