Reece Garvin-Exeter

Reece Garvin suffered an injury in the Berks Conference Championship and missed Exeter’s first three games of the District 3-5A playoffs. The versatile 6’3 junior was thrilled to be cleared for the District 3 Final on Thursday at the Giant Center. “It was amazing. They’ve been fighting hard for me the past couple games to get us to Hershey,” he said. Garvin had 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 67-53 victory over #1 seed Manheim Central. The (23-6) Eagles earned their first District 3 title. They reached the finals for the first time since 1983. Garvin’s three-point play put #3 seed Exeter on top 27-22 with two minutes remaining in the second quarter. He added a pair of foul shots one minute later for an eight point advantage. Anthony Caccese’s layup at the buzzer made it 32-23 at the break. Kevin Saenz started the second half with a transition layup. The 6’3 junior knocked down a jumper to give the Eagles a 40-28 lead with two and a-half minutes left in the period. Exeter went on a 5-0 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to go up 49-37. A floater in the lane by Zyion Paschall made it 55-41 midway through the period. Teddy Snyder provided the cherry on top of the sundae with a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:20 to go. The student section erupted as the Eagles’ edge extended to 60-41. Caccese piled up 22 points and ten boards. Saenz (12) and Paschall (10) combined for 22 points. Exeter has relied on balanced scoring all season. Garvin remarked, “We’ve got trust in each other. That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. We don’t need someone to go for 20-25 points a game.” The (22-6) Barons were also searching for their first District 3 championship. Trey Grube scored seven of his 19 points in the last quarter. The 5’11 senior averages 22 ppg. Grube was a third team all-state selection a season ago. The Lancaster Bible College commit has made 87 treys this year. Aaron Enterline, a 6’3 junior who’s a standout football player, contributed 14 points. Manheim Central went 10-16 from the free throw line, while the Eagles were 13-16. Garvin gave credit to head coach Matt Ashcroft who’s in his fourth season at the helm. “He brings us together, makes us believe. We all bought in and look where that got us,” said Garvin. It got them gold medals and a piece of Exeter sports history.