Exeter built an early 17-point lead, which dwindled to just five in the final minutes. However, the Eagles held on to secure the win and advance to the semifinals, where they will face fourth-seeded York Suburban on Tuesday.
The eighth-seeded Eagles (14-11) defeated 16th-seeded Spring Grove (11-13) Friday night at Reiffton.
“We did a good job showing them a lot of film the last two days and for these guys, they all want to win, and it starts defensively,” Eagles coach Jeff VanGorder said. “For us, we can’t run down in transition unless we get stops. So the urgency was there tonight.”
“I thought everybody was locked in, even guys that came in off the bench were locked in on their shooters … The guys answered the call tonight. So it was a great job.”
Exeter got off to a phenomenal start on both ends of the court, jumping out to an 11-0 lead, which included three three-pointers from three different Eagles.
With 3:05 remaining in the quarter, Spring Grove finally got on the scoreboard when Kayleb Allen hit a three-pointer following a timeout.
The Eagles locked down Spring Grove’s offense in the first quarter, leading 14-7, but even better defense was on the way.
Exeter began the second on an 11-2 behind Aidan Dauble’s five points.
Spring Grove struggled offensively, turning the ball over, missing shots on good looks, and looked frantic as they searched for a spark.
“We forced them into contested threes, and they didn’t hit a couple of shots that they were making in the second half, which led to our lead,” senior Brady Murray said of the strong defensive start. “We were really up in their face. We were impacting the ball. We were absorbing their cuts, and we knew they liked to play a motion offense, so we had to absorb the cuts and watch for their curls.”
With 2:08 left, the Rockets finally got into double-digit scoring after Dominick Pierre got a layup to go.
A few possessions later, Brady Murray sank a three-pointer to extend Exeter’s lead to 17 points, 28-11.
With one half remaining, Exeter held the momentum in the gym and had the potential to put away the Rockets if they started the third quarter with a run.
However, Spring Grove came out of halftime looking like a completely new team.
Cooper Smith knocked down a three-pointer from the right corner on the Rockets’ first time down the court.
On the ensuing possession, Murray, who had eight points in the first half, hit a fadeaway midrange jumper over a defender’s tough defense.
That’s when Spring Grove began knocking down three-pointers with ease from all over the court.
Their next 15 points all came from deep. In that span, Allen hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 35-25.
But Murray, who finished with a game-high 19 points, including five three-pointers, responded with a trey of his own.
“Brady Murray is Brady Murray,” VanGorder said of his senior. “He’s the best shooter in Berks County, in my opinion. He’s got 72 three-pointers now, I believe on the year. Brady makes shots all over the place. He didn’t surprise me tonight.”
“I was really happy for him because he’s a guy that’s put in a lot of work since he was younger. Came up through our youth program. It’s his senior year. He’s one of the guys that we need. Probably didn’t have quite the game he wanted in the first round. But usually, if that happens, I know the next game is going to be a good one.”
Spring Grove walked down the court, and Allen had another opportunity from deep, sinking his third of the quarter.
But the battle between the two three-point specialists continued. Murray received a pass from Jayden Ware in the left corner and, as expected, the same result.
“I just got here early and tried to get up as many shots as possible,” Murray said of his three-point outburst. “I talked to my dad before the game, and he was like, ‘You just got to shoot and shoot.’ So I just played with some confidence.”
The Eagles entered the fourth quarter with a 43-33 lead, but the Rockets had life and were eager to complete the comeback.
“A lot of it was them because they’re really good players and really good shooters,” VanGorder said giving Spring Grove credit for fighting back. “I told the guys they hadn’t had their whole starting lineup in the last six games. 21 (Cooper Smith) had been out the last four (games) before Manheim Central, and in all those games, they were down 14 or 15 (points), and they came back to tie it or go up. We actually showed one of those games to those guys, so I knew what they were capable of.”
“They made some tough ones. We had to weather the storm and be efficient offensively, actually, more so than defensively, and we did a really good job making simple plays offensively to keep pace.”
Spring Grove came within single digits before Murray knocked down his fifth three-pointer to hold a 48-37 lead.
That’s when Spring Grove found the bottom of the basket on back-to-back possessions to trail only six points.
Dauble responded with a layup off an offensive rebound, but with 3:10 left, Owen Renda hit a three-pointer from the right wing to trim the lead to 50-45.
However, that was as close as the Rockets would get to taking the lead.
Dauble grabbed two more offensive rebounds and converted another layup with 2:08 remaining.
We have to survive. We have to play patient. We have to take the best shot possible. We can’t let like them frustrate us,” Murray said of the game plan in crunch time.
Spring Grove went scoreless after having three chances on their ensuing possession.
Dauble, who finished with 13 points, scored again in the paint, but Micah Isaiah Holland answered with a three-pointer, giving the Rockets some hope with 41 seconds remaining.
But that’s when the Eagles took control of the ball and held on to escape with the win.
“It’s been a fun year because every game has been that competitive,” VanGorder said. “Win or lose, it always comes down to a couple of possessions for us. So the guys are used to it by now.” “We’ve got guys that have played a lot of varsity minutes at this point, veterans like Brady (Murray), (Aidan) Dauble, Jayden (Ware), Carter Redding, they’ve played enough to kind of understand the situation, time and score now. They did a really good job keeping things simple and executing, and we got really good shots against the press. So I was happy about that.”
With the win, Exeter automatically qualifies for the state tournament.
However, up next they’ll travel to face York Suburban on Tuesday in the District 3 Class 5A semifinals.
The Trojans defeated fifth-seeded Octorara 61-46 Friday night.
“I’ve watched them a little. I know they’ve got two kids that can really score. I know they’re well-coached,” VanGorder said looking ahead. “It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be a good test. These guys can enjoy tonight.”
Source: Berkshire mont