The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
Braves to see a Ghost
Cooper helps Octorara into Class AAA final against Holy Ghost
Thursday, March 3, 2011
By CARYL KAUFFMAN, Staff Writer
HOLLAND - Gene Lambert remembers vividly the last time Octorara played in the District 1 final in boys basketball, but he wasn't the coach. In fact, he was in middle school.
Maybe that's why, when the clock's final seconds ticked off the scoreboard at Council Rock South High School Wednesday night, Lambert couldn't hide his emotions as the Braves walked off the court with a 53-40 win over Pope John Paul that was nowhere as comfortable as the final score showed.
"We kept our composure," Lambert said. "I'm very proud of my kids. We kept our composure and handled their pressure and made some shots and made some foul shots. Charles Cooper was clutch with his foul shots."
Staying calm was mandatory for the Braves (20-5), who will face Holy Ghost Prep in the final Saturday at Villanova at 8 p.m.
The last time Octorara was in the district final was in 1986.
"I've been coaching here for 16 years and this is the first time," Lambert said. "There's been years when I thought that maybe we could make it to the district championship, but one way or another, we lost a tough one. I think there were four years in a row where we lost a district game in overtime. They were tough nights."
After taking a comfortable lead into halftime, the Braves watched almost helplessly as the Golden Panthers came out making shots, forcing turnovers and pressuring the Braves into mistakes.
As a result, the Panthers closed to within three before Octorara hit its first shot of the second half at the 3:50 mark.
"We were executing, but we weren't making our shots," Lambert said. "That was a concern. We were doing what we were supposed to do. We were setting screens, we were getting open. We just didn't finish.
"Give them credit because they kept playing. They didn't stop. I told my kids the first three minutes are the most important in the second half. And they were -- for them."
After Dequan Newton broke the ice, though, the Braves recovered enough to take a 35-28 lead into the fourth.
"We didn't use the backboard and that cost us a lot of layups," Newton said.
Again, however, John Paul fought back, and closed to within one, but the Braves managed to hold on, and Cooper went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final few minutes to clinch the win.
"We wanted to come out and handle their pressure," Newton said. "We weren't intimidated by their defense. But I think it changed when we started to make mistakes. It started to get to us.
"(In the third quarter) we were playing nervous. They were coming back and the fans were getting to us a little bit. But we just stuck to it. We listened to what coach had to say and we went out and played our game."
Octorara 53, Pope John Paul 40
JOHN PAUL: Dave Cotellese 2 0-0 5, Jeff Evan 4 0-0 11, Paul Mills 2 0-0 4, Jacob Gribb 5 0-1 10, Billy Malescio 1 0-1 2, Mike Mansur 3 0-0 6, Leland Taylor 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 0-2 40.
OCTORARA: Chucky Cooper 2 10-10 14, Lamont Clark 4 2-2 10, Mauriece Bowers 1 0-0 3, Conor Kasabo 3 0-0 6, Dequan Newton 4 0-1 8, James Brown 4 2-3 10, Mike Navarro 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 14-16 53.
John Paul 5 8 15 12—40
Octorara 12 11 12 18—53
3-point goals: Cotellese, Evans 3, Bowers.
To contact staff writer, e-mail ckauffman@dailylocal.com.
URL: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2011/03/03/sports/srv0000011065731.prt
© 2011 dailylocal.com, a Journal Register Property
Staff photo by Tom Kelly IV Conor Kasabo goes up for a layup for Octorara in the first half Wednesday
Staff photo by Tom Kelly IV Octorara's Lamont Clark, left, and Dequan Newton celebrate following the Braves' 53-40 victory over Pope John Paul in the District 1 Class AAA semifinal Wednesday at Council Rock South High School
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