With An Eye Towards The Postseason, Cocalico Passes Penultimate Nonconference Test As Eagles Shake Off Sluggish Start, Explode Past Oley Valley Wednesday Night
Written by: Andy Herr on January 15, 2026
Coming into this game last season, life was a little different for the Cocalico Eagles boys’ basketball team.
Last year, 364 days ago as a matter of fact, Cocalico boarded a bus bound for Oley Valley High School with their post-season aspirations being anything but a surefire bet that you could reasonably bet the mortgage on.
In fact, the Eagles arrived at the home of the Lynx last January while below .500 overall, a situation that saw them sitting outside the cut line when it came to making the District 3-5A playoffs. As we all know by now though, not only would Cocalico end up making those same district playoffs, but they would parlay that berth into then obtaining the last and final bid into the PIAA state playoffs, a feat that the program did not have the privilege of experiencing since the mid-80’s until that fateful March night at Lower Dauphin a year ago when the Eagles won the final game inside the consolation bracket to rightfully earn their spot into the statewide dance party.
This year, while not without their flaws here and there, life – especially in regard to playing beyond the first week of February after exhausting all of your regular season games – was far rosier for Cocalico upon entering their second and final meeting with Oley Valley in as many seasons with the scene now shifting over to the Eagles’ campus for this year’s matchup.
Sure, while the Eagles would technically still miss out on making the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs if those would start today for some inexplicable reason, Cocalico’s standing within the District 3-5A playoff chase nonetheless much sturdier by comparison coming into the Oley Valley game this season when citing the #5 seed line next to their name in the power rankings coming into their game with the Lynx on Wednesday night courtesy of being a full seven games above .500 at 10-3, a far cry from barely treading water at this exact time a year ago.
Suffice to say, while things may have been different while looking at the macro coming into the night at least, Cocalico was hoping that the end result on the micro would be just as fruitful as it was last year, a 62-56 final verdict that went in the Eagles’ favor against Oley Valley.
Ironically though, while this year’s edition would also go down in Cocalico’s favor once again come the time of the final buzzer, there were some striking similarities all the same, albeit a full year apart. Chief among them, the Eagles coming out of the chute while on a sluggish pace.
In last season’s game, with the ramifications far starker and dangerous if they happened to come up short, Cocalico would still look up at the scoreboard hanging in Oley Valley’s gym and see themselves trailing by an 18-8 difference at the end of the opening eight minutes at the hands – er, paws – of the Lynx last January. Now, while one could argue that the Eagles’ margin for error was far greater this time around, they still chose to make it difficult on themselves coming out of the starting blocks yet again.
In fact, after surrendering a pilfer and subsequent layup at the hands of Oley Valley 5’8 senior guard, Luke Williamson, Cocalico had once again started off rather shy against this same foe, falling behind by a 9-2 count a mere 1:28 into this year’s contest as well.
And while the Eagles would regain their stride thanks to a Timmy Hambright trifecta off a baseline out-of-bounds play that preceded a thunderous Luke Waas one-handed jam to later trim the Lynx’s lead down to a penny at 10-9 with a shade over three minutes still showing on the first quarter clock, Oley Valley had nonetheless successfully navigated through the game’s first eight minutes victorious considering the 12-9 lead the Lynx happened to enjoy after the opening frame.
From there on out however, this game immediately flipped. Alarmingly so.
Specifically, Cocalico would seize their first lead in the aftermath of a steal and finish via their own senior guard, Ty Wealand, as Wealand’s theft and bucket made it a 14-13 Eagles’ lead with roughly six minutes left to be played before the first half recess.
Then, as he has done what feels like countless times all throughout this season, Timmy Hambright would be the one to provide the primary scoring punch when it came to the entire Cocalico contingent.
On this night while working against Oley Valley, the Eagles’ 5’11 senior guard and L-L League’s leading scorer would finish by netting a game-high 24-point showing, including a pair of buckets in the middle portions of the second quarter with Cocalico quickly rolling downhill as the pair of Hambright buckets then made it a 19-12 Eagles’ buffer with the Lynx prompted into burning a timeout with 4:19 left in the second quarter to try and stem the tide.
But the die had already been cast by that point.
When it came to leading by double figures, that too would be an assignment fulfilled by Hambright as his trifecta later on made it a 30-19 Cocalico advantage which helped set the stage for the Eagles to roll into the intermission with a commanding 34-19 lead, something perhaps perplexing considering how it had taken them all of ten minutes’ worth of gametime to finally obtain control the scoreboard not all that long prior.
Nevertheless, even while thrown into what could only be described as an extremely precarious position in terms of trying to dig out for a sizable hole, Oley Valley continued to scratch and claw when it came to trying to stay with shouting distance.
That was arguably never best evidenced than by with a hoop plus the harm finished off by way of Lynx junior guard, Manuel Aybar, before a traditional three-point play right behind it courtesy of Oley Valley’s Luke Turchi, the team’s leading scorer on the night who tossed in a 17-point performance, helped to bring the visitors from Berks County back within a baker’s dozen at 48-35 with 1:25 outstanding on the third quarter clock.
Yet that would be just about the last of any sort of heroics seen from the guests as time continued to dwindle down even further.
Case in point, another tough take to the rack by way of Cocalico’s Ty Wealand, one of four Eagles who concluded the contest in double figures with Wealand throwing 10 of his own into the mix, before a 3-ball dialed up by 6’3 sophomore forward, Max Urban, another name in that list of double digit scorers, as Urban’s triple not just helped the underclassman finish with an 11-point showing once the dust had settled, but it more importantly saw the Cocalico lead blossom into a 53-38 difference prior to entering the game’s final act.
Speaking of Urban, he was apparently only just getting started despite the eventual outcome all but a formality.
Case in point, a triumvirate of Urban-authored buckets to help start the fourth quarter proceedings, all of which made it a 61-38 Eagles’ cushion, with still six minutes left to be played and Cocalico suddenly flirting with triggering with the mercy rule in a game which they had gone without leading in, again, for the better part of what proved to be ten minute of clock time.
But that would still be plenty of time for others in an Eagles’ uniform to get their shot once called upon and checking into the contest.
And no one exemplified that better than Cocalico 5’10 sophomore guard, Sudias Williams, as Williams successfully sunk a deep, walk-in triple to fearlessly conclude his first offensive possession of the varsity action before then following that up with a bucket at the cup while in transition not long afterwards, a stretch of play that saw the hosts claim their largest lead at any one time, 73-47, before a final three-point addition to the margin prior to the final buzzer helped to punctuate what became an emphatic 76-47 Cocalico victory over Oley Valley on Wednesday night in Denver to help keep this Eagles’ ship steering in the right direction with the playoffs out there on the horizon.
From here, barring something totally unexpected and entirely out of left field, it’s obvious that Cocalico remains safely bookmarked for the postseason as opposed to wringing their hands as they were likely doing at this time a year ago. Now, the focus, aside from trying to get back into the league playoffs, a spot where the Eagles would be an incredibly dangerous out for anyone who lines up opposite them, should be centered around occupying as high a seed as possible for districts which in turn leads to creates a litany of home playoff games prior to what everyone hopes culminate in a neutral court showing for the District 3 championship. And if Wednesday night was to serve as any bit of tangible evidence, Cocalico playing in their home gym figures to be a daunting task for any team that is forced to make the trek into “The Nest.” Turning a near ten-point deficit into a 29-point win over the span of 22 minutes might not be a stronger case in which to make.
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