Exeter Flashes All Of Its Venom As Eagles March Past Lebanon, Await Date With Cedar Crest In Championship Game Of Falcons’ Holiday Tournament To Set Up Tantalizing Matchup Between Two District 3 Juggernauts
Written by: Andy Herr on December 29, 2023
Full disclosure. While this is a site primarily focused almost exclusively on that of Lancaster-Lebanon boys’ basketball above all else by and large, it’s not as if we are totally incapable and devoid of recognizing and appreciating good hoops overall when we see it. In that regard, has anyone been doing it better than Berks County of late?
To put it mildly, it almost seems as if Berks is in the midst of some sort of “golden age” when it comes to their scholastic basketball scene here over the last couple years. And while we’re talking about basketball, let’s just be frank and say that the fellas up in Berks have essentially made it look like track and field considering how they have largely been running laps around not just the L-L, but York-Adams, and yes, even the mighty Mid-Penn as well. Case in point, how about 13-team appearances in the 6A, 5A, 4A District 3 title games with a whopping 10 champions crowned in those occurrences going back to 2017? Beyond that, how about the three state titles that Reading High has been able to win within that same span of time?
That said, you can’t speak on either of those two things if you fail to mention one school—the Exeter Eagles.
While it’s easy to get lost in the sauce of Reading’s exploits, it’s worth pointing out the amount of Coach of the Year honorees who have come out of the conference as well within that same span of time. That, and when you also factor in that Berks was able to land itself in both the 6A and 5A state finals last season, the state’s two largest classification systems, at public schools no less, that is arguably one of the finer achievements that anyone has put forward in any sort of recent memory statewide. Representing the 5A portion of that statement? The Exeter Eagles. And while Exeter would eventually fall short in that state championship game a year ago, there was certainly no shame in doing so considering the defeat came at the hands of Imhotep Charter, a nationally Top 10 ranked program without question, that was headlined by a McDonald’s All-American in Justin Edwards who was bound for Kentucky.
Yet even on the heels of one the more memorable storybook seasons that anyone in District 3 has been able to lay claim to in recent memory, it’s the dawn of a new day in Reiffton.
Gone is the head coach and architect of last season’s fantastic run in Matt Ashcroft who stepped aside following the sensational season which rightly awarded the promising young head coach with one of those Pennsylvania State Coach of the Year titles forever etched into his resume as mentioned. In his place steps Jeff VanGorder, an equally adept basketball mind from the collegiate ranks who inherits many of those same pieces who were essential to Exeter’s lengthy postseason venture. Truth be told, while it might be next to impossible to immediately pencil someone in to the 5A state title game before the month of January even, the Eagles look just as potent which is a dangerous thing for the rest of the 5A crop to try and deal with this winter.
Speaking of new seasons, this year likely couldn’t have started fast enough for the Lebanon Cedars and second-year head coach, Kris Uffner.
Simply put, when you find yourself on the heels of an 0-22 season by comparison, the only way to go is upwards. Granted, while the proud Cedars had yet to find the win column heading into their Thursday night date with Exeter to kick of the Cedar Crest Holiday Tournament, Lebanon has been seen getting close to perhaps breaking through that ceiling of late, as evidenced by a hard-fought 66-61 overtime loss against McCaskey last week in particular.
But make no mistake about it, if Lebanon could somehow knock off one of the top squads going right now in District 3 with that of Exeter, it would quite possibly rank right up there alongside the league tournament title they fought so hard for during the 2020-21 campaign. However, as would become readily apparent right from the opening tap by and large, this is an Exeter group that yes, may contain some new faces in key places, but has shown no signs whatsoever it appears in shifting down gears at all.
That said, the Eagles did find themselves trailing by an early 3-2 count in the aftermath of Lebanon’s first offensive possession of the contest. From that point on however, Exeter never looked back.
In fact, the Eagles were able to double-up their opposition relatively early, albeit at a 6-3 count following a bucket inside by one of the key cogs who was instrumental in last season’s state run, Aidan Dauble, as the wily sophomore forward put his troops up with six minutes left in the opening frame. From there, the Exeter cushion would balloon up to a baker’s dozen at 16-3 in the aftermath a rare four-point play by via of the highly talented and rangy Kevin Saenz, that preceded a more traditional trifecta cashed in by another Eagle senior, Reece Garvin, had Exeter well on their way by that point.
All told, Exeter would be able to make good on what would crystalize into a 17-0 salvo inside the first quarter before a timely take to the cup courtesy of Lebanon senior forward, Juan Torres, ended the Cedars’ drought while making it a 19-5 ballgame inside the waning stages of the opening frame. And once the dust had finally settled on an initial eight minutes which Exeter had clearly controlled, the 26-11 score posted up on the scoreboard of the Falcon Cage seemed justified.
Yet to their credit, despite finding themselves inside such a steep early hole that made it hard to claw out of it, Lebanon certainly made a go of it.
In that regard, it’d be easy to point to a dead-eye triple splashed in by Lebanon senior guard, Braylon Beaver, on the Cedars’ first offensive trip of the evening which had quietly trimmed Exeter’s gargantuan lead down to much more pedestrian dozen, 26-14, with the second quarter only in its infancy.
But “quietly” wouldn’t exactly be a word in Exeter’s vocabulary.
No, not when Kevin Saenz retaliated right back with a triple of his own on Exeter’s ensuing trip down the floor –good for a three-point addition to his 15-point night – before Saenz made good on a three-point play of the old-fashioned variety not long afterwards which just as quickly made it a 36-18 Exeter lead with 3:40 left in the opening half by that point. From there, the Eagles’ eventual team-high scorer on the night who finished with bucketing 18 points to his name, Reece Garvin, ripped off his own personal 5-0 spurt to make it a three-touchdown Eagles’ lead, 44-23, with a hair over two minutes left before the halftime recess. And to get back to Saenz for a moment, if he wasn’t doing the scoring himself, that seemed just fine by him considering how his impeccable floor vision would be on display inside the latter moments of the second stanza as sweet dish from Saenz to a streaking Eddie Gwitira underneath for the easy deuce made it another Exeter double-up moment, 46-23, before the half later rolled around with the Eagles well in command by virtue of their 48-23 halftime advantage.
Truthfully though, while Exeter was next to superb for nearly all of the opening 16 minutes of play, the scariest part might’ve been that they looked even more lethal once the third quarter came into view.
Without much in the way of thought, Reece Garvin proceeded to bury a trifecta on the Eagles’ first offensive trip to begin the third. Next time down, Alex Kelsey would promptly follow suit with one of his own, making it a 54-23 Exeter lead in short order. Then suddenly, after Kelsey proceeded to torch the nets yet again from bonus distance on another Eagles’ trip during the third quarter’s infantile stages, one could look up and see that Exeter had suddenly tallied triples on three of their first four possessions to begin the second half of play to really put this one out of any sort of realistic reach.
Speaking of the triples though, perhaps Exeter’s hot shooting from beyond the arc had rubbed off on Lebanon as the third quarter drugged onward considering how Daryan Rodriguez would knock down a trey of his own to give the Cedars a bit of mojo and good fortune in their corner.
Unfortunately for them however, Exeter would make sure that too would be short-lived.
Case in point, a take to the cup by way of Exeter junior, Carter Redding, making it a 66-30 Eagles’ lead before a, you guessed it, Eagles’ triple, made it a 71-34 ballgame thanks to the efforts of senior guard, Devon Nester, which is exactly where the difference remained once the final 30 second evaporate off the third quarter clock.
That said, even those on the Exeter bench got involved once the final eight minutes got underway.
Sure enough, Exeter’s Jewliany Orbe-Ochoa wasted no time whatsoever once his number was called as the Eagles’ junior checked in and immediately tallied a bucket inside the paint to get the fourth frame underway in earnest.
And while Lebanon would continue to do some good, tangible things inside the final quarter that included the likes of the Cedars’ leading scorer on the night, Juan Torres, going 2-2 from the charity stripe to add a two-point addition to his team-high 14-point performance on Thursday night, another Lebanon senior guard, Riquelme Estevez, was able to do this thing by coming up a tough take to the rack in the waning stages which helped the Cedars try to get back within the view of 30 at 73-41 with time winding down.
Ironically though, much in the same vein as he himself had begun the final act, an Orbe-Ochoa trifecta shut the scoring down for Exeter with the final gun fast approaching. And once it did, it would prove to be a remarkably well-rounded night from the Eagles’ perspective in which not only did everyone on the entire bench get to play, but almost the entirety of the Exeter roster was able to get into the scoring column behind a staunch 79-42 victory over Lebanon to advance onward to the championship round against Cedar Crest on Friday night in a game that pits arguably two of the very best District 3 5A and 6A squads respectively this season head-to-head against one another.
For Lebanon, while Thursday night certainly did not go the way in which anyone in their camp had hoped for, it was in a sense a good litmus test for them to take hold of as they prepare to reenter the ranks of L-L Section One play next week inside a division that seems ripe for the picking in some regards when considering the aspect of the Cedars trying to burst that annoying goose egg bubble they are currently carrying around. However, before section play resumes, Lebanon finds itself with a fantastic opportunity at getting that elusive first win on Friday night when they draw another Lebanon County foe, Palmyra, as the Cougars and Cedars will duke it out for third place following an almost equally impressive Cedar Crest triumph over Palmyra in the opposite semifinal round matchup. But no matter what happens in that game against Palmyra, it’s obvious that the Cedars are getting better. Yes, maybe that’s hard to view from the naked eye at times, but Lebanon certainly went blow-for-blow against Exeter at times on Thursday. Unfortunately for them, the Eagles’ weaponry proved far too steep, and the damage occurred far too quickly for Lebanon to really play this game at level ground. Yet make no mistake. This is the Lebanon Cedars we’re talking about here. While it’s been some thin and lean times here in the last couple of years in particular, this is a program that has far too much history, far too much pride and far too fight woven in its DNA to be kept down for very long. Rest assured, Lebanon will be back.
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