Octorara Meets Its Match, Falls To Upper Dublin In Opening Round Of PIAA-5A Tournament As Cardinals Continue To Rewrite History In 28th Consecutive Win
Written by: Andy Herr on March 8, 2025
Before we get started and look forward, let us first look back. Like, all the way to the very beginning type of “back.”
There, on just the second day of the newly designated high school basketball schedule — Saturday, November 30th to be exact — the Octorara Braves traveled down to District 1 territory and came away with a hard fought 61-58 road triumph at Downingtown East, a victory in which Braves’ head coach Gene Lambert coined of his squad, “They are a bunch of fighters.” Hard to argue considering how Octorara routinely came back from sizable holes that they found themselves in throughout much of the season’s initial contest while down in Exton.
Yet from that Thanksgiving weekend afternoon onward, Octorara really didn’t seem to need to do much “fighting.”
Not to sell this largely underclassmen-led group by any means of course. In fact, quite the opposite considering that the Braves ended the 2024 calendar year while sporting a 10-1 overall record, winning a half dozen of those ten triumphs by at least double digits to be exact. All told, the Braves from Atglen would proceed to finish the regular season portion of the campaign with a sultry 19-3 overall mark while en route to a second-place finish when it came to Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Three play.
But from that snapshot in time forward, that’s when the real makings of what transpired that late Saturday in November really came home to roost.
Suffice to say, while Octorara’s 22-game jaunt through the regular season couldn’t have gone much better save for all of three games, the time since then has largely seemed to tell a different story for the Braves by comparison. Yes, an overarching narrative where that same “fighting” and overall scrappy spirit would be needed more now than ever before throughout the season’s first three months.
Following a bitter 51-49 defeat at the hands of eventual league silver medalist, Warwick, a quick exit from the L-L playoffs in an opening round defeat, Octorara needed to fight tooth and nail to stay out of the District 3-5A consolation bracket against an old foe from recent memory, Cocalico, as the Braves were able to lock up a state tournament berth by virtue of a 62-53 overtime verdict against a pesky bunch of Eagles on their home floor.
However, Octorara’s time spent residing in the winner’s 5A bracket would prove to be short-lived seeing as how a second round setback at the hands of York Suburban would knock them down to the play-in round used to determine PIAA seedings with the Braves trading a win for a loss against the likes of Spring Grove and their fiercest of league rivals, Lampeter-Strasburg, in the fifth-place game held last week over those final two contests to sunset their district tourney portion.
So, what’s your prize for fighting your way out of the toughest pocket of your season yet to date you ask? Well, let’s keep it simple and say that Octorara would need unprecedented levels of that same vigor and unbridled confrontational nature heading into this opening round of state competition on Friday evening.
To some handicappers who have a vested knowledge and interest in this sort of thing, this is one of their darlings for the month of March in 2025 inside the 5A realm of Pennsylvania boys’ basketball. And largely speaking, looking at the numbers alone, it’s hard to find much of any sort of sound counterargument to take issue with.
For them, the Upper Dublin Cardinals have all the makings of a team projected to play for quite a while yet. Perhaps even so much so that the “Flying Cardinals” – fantastic nickname we should add – might not only be found playing inside the Giant Center come the final weekend in March, but perhaps even heading back to Fort Washington with some gold medals and a similarly-colored trophy to boot.
Remember that earlier date of November 30th? Yeah, Upper Dublin surely does. And why wouldn’t they considering it’s been the lone instance they’ve experienced so far this year where they didn’t finish the game by scoring more points than their opposition?
That’s right. Coming into Friday night’s curtain-raiser on the PIAA state tournament, Upper Dublin came in riding an utter-worldly 27-game winning streak, good enough for 27-1 overall, as the Cards’ lone defeat came in their opening game of the season, yes, back on November 30th, to an always sound Lower Merion ballclub by all of a dozen points, 80-68.
And as one might figure, stacking nearly 30 wins on top of one another from the infant stages of December onward comes with some achievements along the way.
Chief among them, an emphatic 10-0 sweep over their Suburban One Liberty Division brethren when it came to divisional play, a second consecutive Suburban One League title, capping everything off with last week’s District 1-5A championship performance against Holy Ghost, a historic victory that marked the program’s first instance of walking away with a district championship in precisely four decades.
To be sure, there’s more than ample and obtainable evidence at hand as to why everyone from around the state is so bullish on the prospects regarding this group of Cardinals and what this month may figure to have in store for them yet. And that’s all well and good, but they first needed to protect the aptly named “Nest” just one more time in this opening round game of states against Octorara before they truly can get out and fly throughout the commonwealth these next few weeks. For if they wouldn’t, a 27-2 season would certainly ring hollow.
Fortunately for them, there most certainly appears to be far more left unwritten when it comes to detailing this year’s Upper Dublin story based upon on the merits of their performance put forth against Octorara on this night.
That being said, it was admittedly somewhat of a sluggish start out of the chute as far as the game’s hosts were concerned.
In fact, after surrendering a prompt 4-0 Braves’ rebuttal to knot things up at 4-apeice with 4:20 left to play in a very tame and methodical first half of the first quarter of play on Friday evening, the visitors from just inside the Chester County line would proceed to find their first instance in playing with the lead a short time afterwards as a pair of freebies sunk at the charity stripe by way of Octorara 5’9 junior guard, Chase Fetrow, made it a 6-4 Braves’ cushion just 20 seconds after they had just drawn even. From there, just a couple of possessions later in fact, Octorara’s early lead had swelled outward to a 9-6 difference following an old fashioned three-point play chipped in by way of 6’0 junior wing, Vincent Thaler, as the Braves were the ones who were largely dictating the terms of the game’s initial action.
Yet from that moment on, somewhat tepid start and all, Upper Dublin more than made up for lost time as far as the remainder of the evening was concerned.
Specifically speaking, after looking upward at Octorara having a larger number under their name throughout a solid chunk of the opening frame up until that point, the Cardinals were finally able to race back in front courtesy of a tough take to the rack by way of senior guard, Ryan Mulroy, as Mulroy’s deuce at the cup put the hosts back in front by a 10-9 count with just 80 seconds remaining in the game’s first period.
And the lead would never change hands – much less be in the danger of even doing so – ever again for the duration of the contest.
Then, after seeing all of their field goals up until that point come exclusively by way of the painted area, a pair of dead-eye triples sunk in successive fashion inside the waning stages of the first frame courtesy of Horace Jackson IV and Brandon Altman respectively helped to usher the homestanding Cardinals into the second stanza while fresh off a timely 10-0 spurt to close the initial quarter with Upper Dublin holding serve by virtue of the 16-9 difference up on the scoreboard after one.
Granted, while the somewhat modest seven-point difference seen at the start of the second act wasn’t all that impressive perhaps, the action on the floor undeniably was. But especially on Upper Dublin’s behalf most of all as the vastly taller and faster collection of Cardinals were snatching up nearly every offensive rebound and every loose ball they could possibly get their mitts on it had seemed. In other words, when it came to the game within the game, Upper Dublin was running away with it by a commanding margin. For that reason, it probably shouldn’t have been all that unbelievable to witness UD senior forward, Idris Rines, soar above the pack of Braves placed below him and finish off yet another Cardinals’ offensive rebound and easy put-back to help kick off the second quarter of play off by making it a 23-9 UD bulge with Octorara forced into calling a timeout with 6:13 left before the halftime break.
But this UD freight train simply couldn’t be stopped.
No, certainly not when Jackson IV proceeded to bury yet another of his first half trifectas while en route to a double-digit performance in netting 10 points to aid in the well-rounded Upper Dublin effort, and certainly not when Rines, another Cardinals’ double figure man by virtue of his 11-point body of work compiled on Friday night, tallied an easy bucket from point-blank range to make it a commanding 33-13 Cardinals’ lead with just three minutes left before both teams would retire to their respective clubhouses for the game’s intermission.
Fittingly, arguably because he himself would go on to have the honors when it came to posting the game-high scoring output to the tune of his 17-point evening, a 3-ball in the final few moments of the second quarter dialed by uber-talented sophomore guard, Justin Ragsdale, helped to send Upper Dublin into the break with the decisive 38-15 lead following an impressive opening 16 minutes of play.
All that is to say, the fact of the matter come the start of the second half on Friday night was that the idea of the mercy-rule being triggered into effect seemed far more likely than perhaps a frantic Octorara push to claw back within reach.
And while that may have indeed been the case, good luck trying to convince either Octorara’s Vito Vespe or Karter Lambert of that considering that the Braves’ underclassman duo from the junior and sophomore ranks tallied a pair of triples over the course of the first three minutes of the third frame, helping to trim the Cardinals’ lead down to 46-23 difference as the visitors were clearly playing their best ball of the contest on both ends of the floor thus far.
Yet just when they probably felt as if they were finally making some significant headway, Upper Dublin didn’t feel the least bit guilty when it came throwing cold water on any of Octorara’s best-laid plans.
In fact, following a magnificent reverse finish at the cup by way of Ragsdale which then preceded a knock-down trifecta splashed home via Upper Dublin junior sharpshooter, Noah Cohen, cast on his left arm and all, the Cardinals’ lead had once again expanded out to a considerable difference, 51-27, with the game’s tide of momentum clearly swinging back in the home team’s favor by that juncture.
And while Octorara’s Mehkai Lambert, a bright spot both on this night and into the future from Octorara’s perspective, would come up with a silky-smooth pullup jumper in the quarter’s final moments — all while en route to tallying the lone double figure output for all of the Braves in uniform in netting 11 points — the Upper Dublin lead remained sturdy heading into the final eight minutes as the Cardinals were well on their way to a second round playoff date upcoming on Tuesday considering their 54-33 lead after three in this one.
But even here, game’s eventual outcome all but a formality and sealed up heading down the final furlong, some of the same familiar themes that had helped to construct this night going back to the beginning remained on full display come the latter stages all the same.
Chief among them, the Cardinals being the first team getting to what felt like every loose ball and rebound that could’ve been up for grabs in even just the slightest of forms. For that reason, seeing Upper Dublin senior, James Castronuovo, snare down yet another in the litany of Cardinals’ offensive boards and subsequent stick-backs, this example here making it a 60-35 UD lead just two minutes into the final frame, probably shouldn’t have been much cause for alarm bells considering how prevalent a theme of that kind had proven itself to be.
Then again, remember that early premonition when it came to Upper Dublin perhaps triggering the running clock into effect at some point on Friday night? Yeah, while it might’ve taken them awhile to finally reach that summit, they would check that box of their to-do list as well against Octorara.
For those honors, yet another of Cohen’s trademark treys helped to set the stage for a leak-out layup in transition with Ryan Mulroy finishing down on the other end, creating the 30-point necessary margin, 65-35, with Upper Dublin’s foremost mission remaining by this point in the contest centering on how many dressed in uniform they could get entered into the scoring column prior to the final buzzer going off.
Selfishly though, Noah Cohen certainly did his part to make it hard on everyone else to possibly such an objective as Cohen’s white-hot shooting display continued in earnest while inside the final quarter as the junior’s first game back from a mid-season injury culminated in what would be four triples sunk from beyond the arc on this night in totality — with more than a few cruelly rimming out as well — as Cohen found himself to be the fourth Cardinal to hit double figures in terms of scoring with his dozen posted against the Braves, this latest iteration making it a 73-39 ballgame with time rapidly winding down.
Yet there would be no more scoring found from anyone on either side for what remained of the evening still left outstanding. And once the dust had finally settled on this one, 67-point effort over the final 25 minutes and change by way of the Upper Dublin Cardinals, the team that has now won 28 games in a row finds themselves just four wins shy of winning the ultimate prize found in that of a state championship following a decisive and most impressive 73-39 final verdict over Octorara on Friday night.
Afterwards, while most could’ve just as easily looked at the game’s final score and assume that this one was never in any sort of doubt and that Upper Dublin was totally free and clear from experiencing any sort of turbulence at any point along the way, Octorara’s Gene Lambert didn’t see it that way.
“Coming into this game, we said that turnovers are what (Upper Dublin) thrives off of,” the 24th-year head coach of this alma mater said following his team’s final game of this season. “We got out of their defensive pressure some, but we just didn’t take care of the ball when we did get out of it,” Lambert added. “We missed some layups, had balls bounce right through our hands…There was a huge turning point right there because it was 9-6 and we had a chance to get a layup,” he added of one missed opportunity that stung in particular. “If we get that, maybe everyone starts to go ‘Uh oh.’ But that’s just a really good team,” Lambert said of Upper Dublin.
“My first thing we came in here (after the game) was, ‘There’s levels to this.’ There’s always levels to this game,” said Lambert. “At our level, where we’re at, we’re in a pretty good spot. We’re okay. We’re able to compete and do good things, but this is a different level,” he added not just of Upper Dublin, but his team’s first time competing in the 5A ranks after being ushered up from 4A prior to the start of this year’s campaign.
“To me, I look at it where it was just a learning game,” he then said of what was his main takeaway heading out of a windy Fort Washington late on Friday night. “We have to learn and figure out what (Upper Dublin) did to us and come back ready for it next year. It was gauge. For my gauge, it was, ‘We’re not ready yet.’ We fought and did everything we could tonight, but they were just bigger, stronger, and faster. That’s what they were. Like the Bionic Man,” Lambert quipped of Upper Dublin.
And while this was obviously a tough pill to try and swallow for a variety of appropriate reasons, to quote Octorara’s head coach, there are indeed “levels” to this thing. Quite frankly, a pretty position in which the Braves find themselves heading into their upcoming season considering that 100% of their scoring found on this night came courtesy of players all slated to reenter the fold next season, and 90% of the Braves’ participation against UD coming from members not of the 2025 graduating class. For that, there’s reason to like this current level.
“I’m excited because for the first time in my 24 years, I’ve never had basically a whole team come back. That’s just never really happened. Not a whole team,” said Lambert of his current roster’s construction. “I did tell (his players), ‘Hey, the weight room is open starting on Monday,’ he then said with a smile. “You don’t have to touch a basketball, but that weight room is going to be open for you. But that’s going to be the other key in this honestly. Going from junior bodies to senior bodies,” he continued.
And him, a basketball-lifer personified, there’s always something upcoming out on the horizon to look forward to. Even if this particular ride must officially end here in this moment.
“For the kids, they can start going into the weight room on Monday like I said, but we’ll start spring league up here shortly and get going again….It’s been my life,” said Lambert unapologetically in closing. “It’s been my life.”
Rest assured, assuming that his team ends up hitting those desired markers in the offseason that will be required of them prior to starting out on the 2025-26 season journey, life ahead certainly figures to look pretty rosy and positive if you’re an Octorara Brave.
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