Lopsided final loss won’t tarnish another successful season for Exeter

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2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by

Utilities Employees Credit Union

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By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor

COATESVILLE — Jeff Van Gorder looked past the scorebook and at the bigger picture Tuesday night at Coatesville once Exeter’s basketball season had finally come to an end.

He liked what he saw.

“I don’t think anybody should look at this year as anything but a success,” said the Eagles’ first-year coach 30 minutes or so after they were taken out of the PIAA Tournament 83-40 by two-time defending Class 5A champ Imhotep Charter. “I’m proud of these guys.”

Van Gorder was especially proud in the first half when the Eagles (19-10) clung tightly to a team chock full of college talent and against guys who had them by two or three inches at nearly every position on the court.

The Eagles were within 16-15 when Kevin Saenz found Reece Garvin on a sharp cut to the basket with 5:58 left in the first half.

They were within 19-18 a couple minutes later when Brady Murray knocked down a 3-pointer.

“They did exactly what we wanted them to do,” Van Gorder said. “They were patient, took open shots, were efficient, and defensively we made (Imhotep) think.”

Moments after Murray buried that ‘3’ Alex Kelsey picked up his second foul. The fiery senior didn’t agree with the call, made it known, and was hit with a technical. The Panthers (26-3) turned it into a four-point possession for a 23-18 lead.

Exeter was still within striking range, down seven, after Devon Nester drilled a 3-pointer in the final minute of the half.

Any dreams of making headlines across the state came to a crashing halt in a matter of minutes in the second half.

Ahmad Nowell, a University of Connecticut recruit, pumped in a 3-pointer on Imhotep’s first possession of the third quarter. Sophomore RJ Smith followed with another next time down. When Lateef White put back a miss next possession the Imhotep lead was 15, less than 90 seconds into the half.

The Eagles didn’t stop fighting – they were still trapping, going for steals, trying to force the issue –well after the mercy rule had been put into effect. But they knew early in the second half that their season was about to end.

“You look up at the scoreboard,” Van Gorder said, “(and) you know who you’re playing.”

Imhotep held Exeter without a basket for the first six minutes of the third quarter. By the time Murray found the range on another 3-pointer for Exeter’s first basket of the second half the game was essentially over, ‘Tep’s 21-0 scoring run making it all but official.

The Panthers were as good as advertised: Big, fast, aggressive. They were physically overwhelming, pushing the Eagles away from the basket, making it difficult to find open shots.

Kelsey managed to score 12 points but most of that came from the foul line. The Eagles finished with just 13 field goals.

All-Berks guard Kevin Saenz finished with just six points. He injured his left wrist last week in the win over Upper Dublin and, after missing his first jumper Tuesday and then coming out of the game briefly to have it looked at, knew he wasn’t going to shoot as normal.

He spent the rest of the night trying to get to the basket, a formidable task against a front line that goes 6-8, 6-7, 6-6.

The Panthers had their way on the glass, doubling Exeter’s rebounding total. They also shot the lights out, making 10-of-22 from beyond the arc. They kept pounding them through in the final minutes, their third-team guys draining the nets even more efficiently than their starters.

You can look at the final score and make a case that the PIAA system is way out of whack. A team as good as Exeter – one that went into the Geigle and beat Reading by 24 points – shouldn’t be beaten by 43 points in a state playoff game if you’re playing on a level playing field. . . but that’s a story for another day.

Tuesday the story was what the Eagles accomplished, this season and last, and for them to feel good about it. Kelsey does.

“I hate losing by that much,” he said. “It’s just terrible. (But) I feel like our season was a success, especially with a new coach, getting to the second round of states. It’s a great accomplishment. I’m just really proud of my guys and my first-year coach.”

Exeter won 19 games against a brutal schedule stuffed with state-qualifiers. It has only finished six previous seasons with more wins.

The Eagles won 46 games over the past two seasons; the only better run came from 1971-74, when they reeled off three straight 20-win seasons, including a 30-3 mark in ’73-74.

They won 13 postseason games the past two years, more than in any two-year cycle in program history – heck, more than they won in the previous 35 years.

Over the last seven weeks Exeter lost to just three different teams: Wilson (twice), Mechanicsburg and now Imhotep.

“We lost to eventual county champion,” Van Gorder said, “then to the eventual district champion and most likely to the (eventual) state champion. (These kids) have nothing to hold their heads low about.”

	1	2	3	4	Final
Imhotep Charter	14	16	32	21	83
Exeter	11	12	8	9	40

Panthers (26-3)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Nowell	2-5	10-11	1-2	0	5	15
Smith	4-8	0-0	3-6	1	2	11
L. White	4-8	2-2	0-1	0	2	10
Gray	3-6	1-5	0-1	1	11	7
Taylor	3-4	2-2	0-0	0	5	8
J. White	1-5	0-0	0-0	1	8	3
Henderson	1-5	0-0	1-4	0	1	3
Green	5-6	1-2	1-2	0	2	12
Colson	3-5	0-1	2-3	0	1	8
Benson	2-3	0-0	2-3	1	1	6
Banks	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
L.Carter	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
D. Carter	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals	28-55	17-25	10-22	4	39/43	83

Eagles (19-10)	FG	FT	3’s	A	R	Points
Kelsey	2-5	8-12	0-2	1	4	12
Saenz	3-8	0-0	0-1	3	1	6
Garvin	2-8	0-0	1-6	0	5	5
Murray	2-5	0-0	2-5	0	0	6
Dauble	2-9	0-0	0-3	1	2	4
Ware	0-2	1-2	0-0	0	1	1
Nester	2-3	0-0	2-3	0	1	6
Redding	0-0	0-0	0-0	2	3	0
Flanders	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Gwitira	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Magee	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Orbe-Ochoa	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Davis	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	13-43	9-14	5-20	7	17/21	40

Turnovers: Imhotep 11, Exeter 13. Team rebounds: Imhotep 4, Exeter 4.