Exeter’s Kevin Saenz: ‘We’re coming for that district championship’
Matt Ashcroft talks defense all the time; it’s what he’s built his Exeter basketball program around. He doesn’t mention it much but he’s got some skilled offensive players and shooters in his lineup, too.
The Eagles got a chance to show off those skills Thursday when they out-ran and out-shot offensive-minded Milton Hershey, putting up their highest scoring total in three seasons in an 80-58 District 3 Class 5A playoff win at Reiffton.
“That pace got frantic,” said Ashcroft, who prefers a more deliberate style so that he can run sets and make sure to take advantage of low post monster Anthony Caccese, his 6-6 senior center.
The Mid-Penn Keystone champion Trojans had other things in mind. They like to get it and go and were knocking down everything in sight the first couple minutes, taking leads of 7-3 and 9-5.
The third-seeded Eagles (21-6) were equal to the task. Kevin Saenz hit a pair of early 3’s to help Exeter keep pace and Teddy Snyder dropped a trey to push the lead to four midway through the first period.
That lead continued to grow as the Eagles shot at a sizzling pace. Their starters were good on nearly 58 percent for the night, and on 9-of-19 from beyond the arc.
A 17-point run late in the half decided it and sent Exeter streaking to its first district semifinal since 1984. It’ll play seventh-seeded Hershey back in Reiffton Monday at 7.
“We just blew out a team that was great in the Mid-Penn,” said Saenz, who scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. “They were No. 1 (in their league) and we just blew ’em out. So, I’m feeling good about Monday.”
Saenz and his teammates enjoyed getting a chance to run-and-gun for a change. Teddy Snyder matched his career high with 19 points and made 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc, including 4-for-4 in the second half. Caccese had 16 points and a game-high 13 boards.
Even without their top 3-point shooter, Reece Garvin, who’s out with an ankle injury, the Eagles had plenty of firepower.
“Every day after practice, all the shooters, we stay for an hour after practice getting shots up, and it’s working,” said Saenz. “This is our home court. We haven’t really had any off (shooting) games on our home court. So, we’re gonna keep hitting. And on Monday it’s gonna be even scarier.”
The Eagles faced some tough minutes early in the second quarter. Zyion Paschall picked up his third foul two minutes in, and the sixth-seeded Trojans (18-6) opened the quarter with an 8-0 run to lead 27-24.
Saenz, who had five assists, found Caccese inside a couple times and the Eagles were off, scoring 17 straight points to lead 41-27.
The Spartans were pretty much done at that point.
“You could tell they were gassed in the second half,” Saenz said. “Our second-half conditioning is amazing, that’s where we succeed the most. They couldn’t keep up with us.”
Ashcroft kept Paschall on the floor and he finished the game with 12 points and six assists and without fouling out.
The Eagles looked perfectly comfortable playing a high-paced game. They moved the ball quickly around the perimeter and scored often on kickouts. Alex Kelsey had six assists and the Eagles totaled assists on 35 baskets.
“Boy, did they catch and shoot it with confidence tonight,” Ashcroft said. “Let’s give credit to Zyion and Alex for finding them; those were pinpoint passes.”
Even without Garvin, who’s unlikely to play Monday, the Eagles continue to play better and better. They’ve won 11 of their last 12 games, the lone loss in that stretch coming to Reading High 70-63 in the Berks title game. Even in that one they played at a high level; they let a big lead slip away when Garvin couldn’t go in the second half and after Saenz fouled out with about 4 ½ minutes left.
They’ve won their two district playoff games by a combined 47 points and are a threat to take the title, even if they don’t get Garvin back in time for the championship game Thursday afternoon. The No. 2 seed, Lampeter-Strasburg is now out of the running and the top seed, Manheim Central, hasn’t been overly impressive.
“We think we have a good shot at winning this thing,” said Caccese, “so we’re gonna give it all we’ve got. We want to be playing from ahead, and we want to be the favored team. Being an underdog’s fun, but it’s better to just come out here and just handle your business.”
“Hey, we’re coming for that district ’ship,” Saenz warned. “We’ve got a chip on our shoulder from (losing) that county (final).”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Milton Hershey | 19 | 10 | 6 | 23 | 58 |
| Exeter | 24 | 17 | 22 | 17 | 80 |
| Trojans (18-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Onabanwo | 6-16 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Burney | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Rosa | 5-12 | 2-5 | 2-5 | 0 | 6 | 14 |
| Thomas | 8-18 | 8-10 | 0-0 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Blidi | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Regis | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Koroma | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 1-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Naklen | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21-57 | 13-24 | 3-11 | 2 | 25-30 | 58 |
| Eagles (21-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Paschall | 6-17 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| Kelsey | 2-2 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Saenz | 7-10 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
| Snyder | 7-10 | 0-0 | 5-7 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| Caccese | 8-13 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 13 | 16 |
| Dauble | 3-6 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| Turman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sheerin | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Nester | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ware | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Murray | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Orbe Och | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 35-62 | 1-5 | 9-21 | 19 | 37-40 | 80 |
Turnovers: Milton Hershey 12, Exeter 15.
