Undaunted Exeter eager to take another shot at Philly juggernaut Imhotep
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
When he looks back at his high school basketball career Reece Garvin will always be proud of the run he and his Exeter teammates made to the PIAA Class 5A championship game last season.
It’s something few players ever experience . . . something Exeter hadn’t done in nearly 50 years.
That sweet rose of a memory will always have a thorn attached – the final score, 78-40.
“That’s not the way you want to go out,” Garvin said of the loss to Philly superpower Imhotep Charter. “It was great to get to that point (but) the way we went out . . . obviously it sat uneasy in our stomachs.”
Exeter had the unfortunate timing to arrive at Giant Center on the same night as a team regarded as the best ever produced at Imhotep, which is saying something considering the program has won nine state championships in less than 15 years.
The Panthers were nationally ranked and led by Justin Edwards, considered by many the premier player in the nation. The fact that his future coach, Kentucky’s John Calipari, was in Hershey to watch lends some credibility to that.
Edwards is gone now, off throwing down dunks in Lexington, but Imhotep is back and so are the Eagles. They get another chance at taking down the dynasty Tuesday in the first game of a PIAA Tournament doubleheader at Coatesville at 6.
Berks Catholic will wrestle with a giant of its own when it faces Neumann-Goretti in a second-round Class 4A game at 7:30.
The Eagles got trounced in last year’s game – they trailed 31-12 midway through the second quarter.
That beatdown did little dissuade Garvin or the Eagles (19-9), who feel they have a puncher’s chance this time against the Panthers (25-3).
“It’s fun to get another crack at it,” he said. “It’s who you want to play. I feel good, like I do coming into any game. I know a lot of people are doubting us, which is expected because we are the lower seed and they are who they are.
“It’s exciting to get out there and have another shot at them. Most teams don’t even get a chance to play these caliber of teams.”
Imhotep no longer trots out the nation’s best player but it still has lots of good ones. The Panthers lineup includes All-State guard Ahmad Nowell, a University of Connecticut recruit, and 6-7 Ma’Kye Taylor, who will play at Division I Albany next year.
Taylor is part of a front line that includes 6-6 senior Jeremiah White and 6-6 sophomore Zaahir Muhammad-Gray. The Eagles don’t have that kind of length; in fact, they’ve struggled against bigger teams this season.
What they have is a high-scoring offense that can hang with most teams. All-Berks guard Kevin Saenz leads a team that’s averaging nearly 73 points and nine 3-pointers per game. Saenz has 48 3’s and averages 16.4 points. All-Division guard Alex Kelsey averages 12.6 points. Garvin, a two-time all-division pick, has 45 3’s and along with Aidan Dauble produces double-digit points per game.
At the very least the Eagles will make the Panthers work on defense. They’re a faster, more explosive team than they were a year ago.
Imhotep last month made history when it won its fourth straight Public League title; now it is looking for a third straight state championship. It has won 29 consecutive state tournament games.
Eagles coach Jeff Van Gorder knows it’s a daunting challenge.
“We can’t control that they have 6-7, 6-9, 6-5 and a 6-3 point guard,” he said. “We can control competing every single possession. We can control dictating what they get offensively. We’re not going to ‘stop’ them; they’re too good. But we need to limit some of the things they do well.”
Garvin is coming off a career-high 26-point performance in a 67-60 opening-round win at Upper Dublin. It was Exeter’s third straight playoff win.
“It was big-time for our team’s confidence to know we can go out there and compete against the best teams in the state,” Garvin said. “This is the state playoffs: Every team that we’re gonna face is good. We had to fight to win every game last year. As soon as you’re there you realize who you’re playing, it’s rough.”
It figures to be rough for Berks Catholic, as well. Neumann-Goretti (23-3), like Imhotep, is a dynasty. These Saints own nine PIAA championships since joining the organization in 2009, winning 8-of-9 between 2010-2018.
Berks Catholic ran into one of Goretti’s better teams, losing 62-46 in a PIAA opener in 2014. Four years earlier Snip Esterly, BC’s coach, saw his Central Catholic team lose to Goretti 58-46 in a December game at Albright.
This Goretti team might not be as strong as last year’s, which lost to Lincoln Park in the state final, in large part because All-State pick and Baylor commit Robert Wright III transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida for his senior season.
The best returning player, second-team All-State guard Khaafiq Myers, a St. Joe’s recruit, is out with a knee injury. And 6-6 senior Larenzo Jerkins, a West Chester recruit, has missed time with a shoulder injury.
That means they’ve relied more on 6-6 Hofstra commit Amir Williams and sophomore guard DeShaun Yates, who scored a team-high 24 points in an 86-63 first-round win over Littlestown.
Goretti’s only losses this season have come to Roman Catholic and St Joseph’s Prep, in Catholic League play, and to Archbishop Ryan in the league playoffs.
A win will send Berks Catholic to the state quarterfinals for just the second time, and first since 2018.
