Exeter knocks off Milton Hershey, clinches state playoff berth

Exeter won three games last season.

Now the Eagles are going to the state tournament.

The 10th-seeded Eagles got 21 points from Colin Payne and another big performance inside from Anthony Caccese to knock off seventh-seeded Milton Hershey 62-49 Monday in a District 3 Class 5A opener at Spartans Center in Hershey.

The win sends the Eagles (12-12) in the quarterfinals against No. 2 West York, a 38-34 winner over Big Spring, and clinches a berth in the PIAA Tournament. The top nine finishers from District 3 advance to states in Class 5A.

Exeter hadn’t won a district playoff game since 2014 and hasn’t qualified for the PIAA Tournament since 1984.

“I’m just so happy for them,” said third-year coach Matt Ashcroft. “I thought it was our most complete game of the season. \

“They’ve worked so hard. They battled through adversity. This team refuses to go away.”

The Eagles trailed only briefly Monday, 16-13 in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Sophomore Reece Garvin hit a 3-pointer to tie it and another later in the quarter to push them ahead by six.

Caccese, a 6-6 junior, gave the Eagles the lead for good with a three-point play with 3:24 left in the half.

He went on to score seven points in the second quarter and 19 in the game. He took advantage of a mismatch against the Spartans (17-6), who have no one taller than 6-3.

“We always want to go inside,” Ashcroft said. “We want to go inside a hundred times a game if we can. We continue to remind them we want to play inside out. We want to score at the rim and we want to score at the foul line; if we do that we’re going to have success.

“(Anthony) plays his best when the (bright) lights are on in the big-time games. He did it in the fall (as a lineman during Exeter’s district championship football run) and he’s doing it again now.”

The Eagles quickly expanded their 31-25 halftime lead to 13 points in the first 90 seconds of the second half, getting steals and quick baskets from Zyion Paschall and Teddy Snyder. Paschall finished with 11 points, seven assists and had no turnovers. He also held Malachi Thomas, a top scorer for Milton Hershey, to three points.

Payne scored seven points in the fourth quarter and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line; the Eagles were good on 12-of-13 free throws.

They have been playing without their No. 2 scorer, 6-6 junior Joey Schlaffer, for nearly three weeks but they seem to be adjusting to his absence and effectively executing new roles.

After a rough closing stretch that saw them lose seven of their final eight regular season games they upset Wilson in the opening round of the Berks Conference tournament 55-51, then took Berks Catholic to the wire before losing 41-40 in the semifinals.

“We’re excited,” Ashcroft said of making the state tournament, “but you know what? We’re not satisfied. Our focus right now is West York.”