With the basketball team back on top, it’s like old times again at Exeter

Every time Anthony Caccese puts back a miss, Zyion Paschall comes up with a steal or Reece Garvin knocks down a jumper Terry McElhattan is reminded of the glory days of Exeter basketball, the 1970’s and 1980’s, when the Eagles were headliners in the Berks Conference.

McElhattan, a coach in the program for 20 years and associated with the Eagles’ best teams, is a fixture at Exeter games this season. He has watched them closely throughout their postseason run and appreciates what coach Matt Ashcroft and the players have done to resurrect the image of Exeter basketball.

The Eagles won their first District 3 championship earlier this month at Giant Center; Friday they beat Fox Chapel for their first PIAA Tournament victory in nearly 50 years. They’ll go for a second straight Class 5A win Tuesday when they meet Mechanicsburg at Manheim Township at 7:30.

Their 24 wins are the most since Rod Hand’s 1973-74 team reached the state final and set the program record with 30 victories

“They’re one of the best teams I’ve ever seen (here),” said McElhattan. “I would’ve loved to coach this team.”

The Eagles aren’t deep but they’re balanced, with the 6-6 Caccese in the post, strong guards and an array of 3-point snipers. After slugging their way to the state playoffs last season and battling Reading High to the wire in the Berks Conference championship game this season they have big-game experience that pays dividends in March.

It seems that every time Ashcroft’s team has checked off another accomplishment this season you have to go back four or five decades to find the last time the Eagles did it.

• Their Berks II division championship was their first since 1984.
• Their appearance in the league title game was the first since 1974.
• The 20-win season is the first since 1984.
• Their appearance in a district final was the first since 1983.
• The state tournament victory was the first since 1974.

Their district championship, 67-53 over Manheim Central, was their first . . . period. That’s one thing that sets this team apart.

That championship was far from unexpected. After besting Berks Catholic for the Berks II title and beating PIAA Tournament qualifiers Wilson and Muhlenberg in the regular season the Eagles entered districts as the No. 3 seed and with a resume as good as anyone’s.

That wasn’t the case 40 years earlier, the last time they reached the District 3 championship game. McElhatten’s 1982-83 Exeter team opened the season 11-1, then was hit with a rash of injuries.

They were beaten in league play by Reading High, Holy Name, Gov. Mifflin and Wilson and entered districts as a double-digit seed.

“We lost to teams that, had we been healthy, we would’ve beaten,” McElhattan said. “Towards the end of the season we got people back.”

They made a stirring run in districts, beating Milton Hershey, Littlestown – in double-overtime – Lancaster Catholic and finally Cocalico, which had beaten them by 13 points at midseason, to reach the Class AA championship game at the Farm Show.

“We had a really nice cohesive team that had a lot of fun playing together,” recalled John Schwabb, a junior point guard on the 1983 team. “We had a real desire to dive for loose balls and try to out-hustle the other team. Coach ‘Mac’ always fostered a great competitive grit and fire.”

The team’s rotation included A.J. Bryant, Mike Erkes, Kevin Boettlin, Bob Bailey, Derek Acker and Daryl Ellison. (Boettlin returned as the Eagles’ head coach from 2006-19).

Just like nine years earlier, when Exeter lost in the district championship game to Cocalico, it fell this time as well, 74-53 to York Catholic.

A year later, with Schwab, Erkes and Bailey returning to the starting lineup, and with the addition of Jeff Scott, Brian Reaser and sophomore Mike Lubas, who would be their top scorer and rebounder, the Eagles were even better. They knocked off Reading High in overtime before a sellout crowd at Reiffton in their second league game and finished league play 11-1 (losing to the Red Knights at the Geigle later in the season).

They became the first team in Reading’s five seasons in the Berks Conference to beat them out for a division title. It was Exeter’s first win over Reading, and one of just four over the past four decades.

“To me, Reading played on a level way above us,” McElhattan said. “They had so many (good) players and so much depth, you had to play a real good game to beat ’em, and we did. We had a smart team. We could handle the pressure; our guards were pretty good with the ball.”

Exeter went 20-4 in the regular and went into the district tournament as the No. 3 seed. It opened with wins over Dover and Lancaster Catholic before being beaten by second-seeded Warwick 64-63 in the semifinals.

“I probably recall that game more than any other (at Exeter),” said Schwab, who had 13 points, four assists and four steals in the 51-41 victory. “For us, competing against Reading High was always the marquee objective. To finally achieve the goal of beating Reading High was a wonderful experience and a great memory.”

Exeter was eliminated in the opening round of states in both 1983 and 1984.

“We never went quite as far as I would’ve hoped,” Schwab said, “but it was a thrilling experience, that’s for sure.”

Four decades later the Eagles are back on top, with a chance to leave their mark as one of the best teams – and maybe the best — in program history.

“Some of our teams (from the 1970’s and 80’s) were more talented individually,” McElhattan said, the Eagles’ head coach from 1980-91, and an assistant for nine years before that, “but this team is more aggressive playing defense. They’re one of the few teams we’ve ever had that could stay with Reading, that could match their quickness and intensity.

“Matt Ashcroft’s got my vote as Coach of the Year. He’s got them playing ‘Berks Catholic’ (style) basketball: They’re fundamentally sound, defensively they’re tremendous, they run that offense very well. They’re very impressive.”