Exeter handles Mechanicsburg in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A boys basketball playoffs

Mar. 15—NEFFSVILLE — On a night during which he channeled his inner Steph Curry, Exeter's Reece Garvin was hot from start to finish.

The 6-3 junior forward drained a 3-pointer for the game's first score on his way to a game- and career-high 21 points as the Eagles defeated Mechanicsburg 66-49 in a PIAA Class 5A second-round game at Manheim Township Tuesday night.

District 3 champ Exeter (25-6) advances to face District 7 runner-up Peters Township (24-4), which defeated Lampeter-Strasburg 58-56 Tuesday, in a quarterfinal game Friday, site and time to be determined.

"I'm constantly moving," said Garvin, who finished with five 3-pointers. "I'm always moving all around the court and the best shooters, if you look in the NBA at like Steph Curry, he's constantly moving to get open shots ... that's what I tried to do."

In addition to Garvin's performance, strong defense allowed Exeter to pull away in the third quarter after it held a 29-28 lead at the half. Exeter outscored the Wildcats 18-6 in the third while shutting down Mechanicsburg's Josh Smith, who led all scorers with 14 first-half points. He ended with a team-high 19.

"We wanted to be more aggressive against the ball screen," Eagles coach Matt Ashcroft said. "We thought we were way too flat in the first half. Not with our play, but we were flat guarding the ball screen in terms of where we were on the court."

A three-point play by Smith gave Mechanicsburg, the fourth-place team from District 3, its first lead at 28-27 with 30 seconds to go in the opening half.

However, All-Berks center Anthony Caccese made sure that the Wildcats (19-9) wouldn't hold the lead for long as he made a put-back after Kevin Saenz missed a 3-pointer just before time expired in the first half.

Caccese finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

"We came out and played some stellar defense (in the second half)," Caccese said. "We really shut 'em down. We started guarding the ball screen a lot better. They loved getting that pick and roll up at the top trying to get to the rim. So we kind of shut that down and our shooters were shooting great."

The shooting got going for Exeter two minutes into the third when the Eagles, down 30-29, began an 18-4 run to close the quarter.

As it did after the first-half buzzer beater, the momentum and energy in the gym shifted drastically in Exeter's favor when Teddy Snyder made a corner 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in the third.

Snyder was fouled on the play. Though he missed the ensuing free throw, Garvin corralled the rebound and got the put-back to give the Eagles a 47-34 lead heading into the fourth.

Garvin ended with nine rebounds and Snyder finished with seven points.

"Getting the crowd into it during the tight games is what helps our team excel to get to that 10- or 15-point lead and then we just take off from there," Garvin said. "The crowd, all the noise, we all feed into it and we're all hype, going crazy, and then just like that, we pull away with it."

Exeter indeed pulled away in the fourth behind a balanced offense that continued its effective shooting. Garvin made two 3-pointers and had eight points during the final eight minutes, while Caccese had six points. Mechanicsburg only got as close as 12 at 59-47.

Garvin's previous career high of 20 points was first reached in January when the Eagles defeated Manheim Township 74-62 at Neffsville. Garvin also scored 20 in February during a 68-35 win over Oley Valley.

"That's just what he does," Caccese said. "He's a spot-up shooter and when he's on, he's on; he wasn't missing tonight. Last time we were here he dropped 20 points and I guess he must just love this court."

Saenz had 11 points and All-Berks guard Zyion Paschall had 10 points and eight assists for Exeter.

The Eagles were playing without Alex Kelsey, who scored a team-high 13 points in their 62-57, first-round win over Fox Chapel before getting ejected. Kelsey was ejected for his involvement in a disruption that took place after Fox Chapel's Kaden Greil was sent off for exchanging harsh words with the referee. He can return for the next round.

"We're lucky as a coaching staff to have six, seven guys that can pass, dribble and shoot, especially when you want to go into your big guy (Caccese) 30 times a night," Ashcroft said. "These teams in the state playoffs are just not going to allow you to do it. So to have guys like Teddy, and Reece, and Kevin, and Zyion to be able to stretch the court like that is pretty special. There's not that many teams that have that one-two punch."

With talent at both ends of the floor, the Eagles have plenty of reasons to be confident heading into the Elite Eight.

"We have so much confidence," Garvin said. "We're not gonna go into any game thinking we're gonna lose it.

"Onto the next one, one game at a time."