Braves Maintain Their Gait As Octorara Remains Atop Section Three Following Second Half Explosion Against Lancaster Catholic
Written by: Andy Herr on January 19, 2023
Apologies in advance for not knowing the number specifically, but let’s just keep it simple when we say that there have been more than a few basketball games played across the Lancaster-Lebanon League so far this season. And within that overwhelmingly large cluster of contests, there are a certain few that seem to stand out above all others. Specifically speaking, Octorara’s win over Lampeter-Strasburg last week most of all.
In many ways, this is something we’ve been waiting on from the Braves and their program since they first came into the conference about half a decade ago now. For a program that has long-since been standing on the precipice of finally breaking out and making a name for themselves to a much larger county-like audience, something perhaps that would be no better illustrated than with what would be a section title, Octorara’s takedown of the neighborhood goliath last week not only turned some heads and put folks on notice, but it also more crucially meant that the Braves now found themselves alone in first place given their head-to-head victory over the Pioneers from right up the road even despite the shared 4-1 divisional record amongst the pair of clubs.
Needless to say, keeping a level head was the name of the game for Gene Lambert’s Braves in the aftermath of such a triumph. Well, in that regard, it seemed as if it was mission accomplished considering that Octorara would then pass another test, an extremely tricky one at that, by virtue of their 53-40 win over ELCO inside the Raiders’ odd confines back on Friday night south of Myerstown. Speaking of tests though, the Braves figured to get all that and then some exactly seven days following the L-S win when they went up to Lancaster Catholic on Tuesday evening.
Think of the 2022-23 Lancaster Catholic what you must on January 17th and the Crusaders’ 6-7 overall record, but folks around these parts know better than to simply write Catholic off as being nothing more than a harmless threat. Oh no. As long as head coach Joe Klazas is seen patrolling the sidelines for the Crusaders, Lancaster Catholic will likely always and forever be a squad to be taken with nothing but the upmost respect. And quite frankly, nothing would garner more respect on the Crusaders’ name up until this point in the year than a victory over high-flying Octorara provided that they would be able to knock the Braves off their first-place perch.
And while it wouldn’t exactly be described as a waltz down Easy Street, Octorara would indeed make good on passing yet another crucial test they found in front of them with their trip to Lancaster Catholic.
As mentioned though, it wasn’t totally smooth sailing for the guests on Tuesday night. And it certainly didn’t seem that way following a pair of buckets tallied by way of Thaddeus Lee and Jaevon Parker respectively for Lancaster Catholic in the early going, a 4-0 swing which tilted the early lead in the Crusaders’ favor at 8-3 with 3:40 left to play in the first.
From that point on throughout the remaining three minutes and change however, Octorara would rally right back with a marvelous spurt to roar right back into the thick of things.
For the specifics of it all, the Braves would be able to claw back within a modest three, 10-7, following an Elijah Hamilton putback inside at the 1:30 mark of the opening frame before a key 3-ball knocked down by way of Octorara 6’3 senior forward Jackson Roberts to beat the first quarter buzzer made things all square at 10-piece after what had largely felt as if it had been a battle of two differing narratives as far as the initial eight minutes were concerned with both teams authoring their own respective swings at one another.
Try as they might, but neither team would be able to pull away from the other whatsoever even when the second stanza got going either.
Case in point, even while a Thaddeus Lee bunny inside, good for two more en route to his team-high 21-point performance on the evening, gave Catholic the slim 14-12 advantage, an offensive rebound and stick back by another senior found in the Braves’ lineup, Josh Bare, gave the visitors their first lead of the night at 17-16 with just inside of the three still to play before the halftimes recess. But speaking of Lee, he continued to remain his white-hot self right then and there as the Crusaders’ towering 6’6 junior big man proceeded to take his talents outside the arc by promptly burying a triple on the ensuing Lancaster Catholic possession following Bare’s go-ahead deuce to hand the lead right back to the hosts.
Even still, for an opening 16 minutes that seemed apropos given the separation or lack thereof between the two sides seen out on the floor itself, a narrow 21-19 lead maintained by Octorara seemed fitting and just with both squads heading to the locker rooms for the intermission.
Here again though, the margin of difference between Octorara and Lancaster Catholic continued to appear miniscule at best, even with the third quarter now getting underway following halftime adjustments.
Sure, while Octorara’s Elijah Hamilton took his turn at sinking a trey in his own right within the opening two minutes and change to kick start the second half on Tuesday, good for an additional three more in which the Braves’ 6’5 senior wing could successfully tally to what would end up being his game-high 25-point night of work, the Braves’ 24-19 lead would be cut right down to size almost three minutes later as a bucket inside by way of Lancaster Catholic 5’10 junior guard, Leo Lambert, sliced the Octorara lead down to just a penny at 24-23 with 2:30 now left to play in the third frame.
But if ever there was a case to be made for a player unequivocally taking over a game, rest assured it was Elijah Hamilton inside the final few minutes of the third quarter in this one.
All told, Hamilton would proceed to rattle off his own personal 8-0 jaunt by way of superb offensive and defensive plays –a key run his team must definitely needed – to give the Braves what was by far their largest lead of the night up until that point, 34-25, with the Crusaders effectively being knocked back on their heels somewhat in the aftermath of the impromptu blitzkrieg levied against them. That said, just when they needed a spark in their own right, Lancaster Catholic turned to Logan Weyforth to deliver the goods which is precisely what the 5’9 junior guard would do once called upon by hitting a much-needed 3-ball to help make it a much more manageable task for the hosts to undertake before venturing off into the final period albeit with Octorara continuing to hold serve at 36-28 at the end of three.
Without question, that assignment of overtaking the lead certainly had to feel within the Crusaders’ grasp inside the initial stages of the final frame as a stick-back courtesy of Thaddeus Lee cut the Braves’ lead down to just a half dozen, 40-34, with six minutes and change still yet to go.
However, even despite what had appeared to be game-changing momentum starting to turn in Lancaster Catholic’s favor at that time, that would be all the closer the Crusaders would get for the remainder of the night.
In fact, all within the span of 50 game seconds no less, the somewhat innocent six-point difference which the Braves maintained then suddenly exploded out to an 11-point lead, thanks in no small part to a 5-0 run courtesy of one of the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s best kept secrets, junior guard Zach Kirk, making it a 47-36 Octorara advantage with roughly five and a half minutes still to melt away. From there, playing with an undeniable frenetic pace and style of play that can only be described as engrained into Octorara’s DNA, a Jackson Roberts trifecta not long afterwards effectively served as the exclamation mark on the Braves’ impressive 41-point second half effort, a bulk of which came inside the game’s final ten minutes by and large.
And so, even while Lancaster Catholic would continue to do their best in terms of trying to chip away at things down the final furlong, something best evidenced by a pair of buckets that came via their matchup nightmare in Lee, the ledge which the Braves were seen standing upon was far too great for the Crusaders to try and overcome as Octorara was indeed able to make good on checking off another crucial stop along their journey to what they hope ends up being a historic ride by the end of it all should the school for inside the Chester County line happen to secure their first-ever L-L section, a feat most certainly assisted by virtue of their 62-47 final triumph over Lancaster Catholic on this night.
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