Worthington’s 24 points propel Octorara to district crown
WHITEMARSH — To Octorara’s Levi Worthington, Saturday afternoon’s District 1 Class AAA championship against Glen Mills was just another game for the very talented Braves. Worthington and his teammates came out on fire in the first period and jetted out to a commanding lead after one period on the beleaguered Battlin Bulls.
The top seeds did not take their foot off the pedal for the entire game as the Braves, led by a game-high 24 points from Worthington, completely dominated the third-seeded Bulls on their way to a convincing 80-54 rout at Plymouth Whitemarsh Elementry School to capture their third district championship. The other two came in 1986 and 2011.
The 25-2 Braves will face Archbishop Carroll of District 12 in the first round of the state tournament Friday at sa District 1 site to be announced.
“This is just Octorara basketball,’ Worthington said. “We play fast and frantic all year and today was no different. All the players and coaches on this team had a big part in this district title. It is a dream come true for me. I did not think about this at the beginning of the season, but we worked hard and stayed together and today it all came true. This was a true team win.’
Indeed it was. The Braves got big games from their entire starting five. Tarojae Brake poured in 20 points, Andrew Forman added eight points and Jackson Ray had a big game with 13 points and 12 rebounds as he battled Glen Mills’ big man Anthony Johnson under the boards. Corey Cooper had a strong game at point guard, dishing out nine assists and scoring three points.”This was a win for everybody in the community,’ coach Gene Lambert said. “We came out on fire. The kids were ready to play. We have been practicing for three weeks and the kids were ready to go. Jackson Ray did a great job battling Johnson. He had a huge game.”And Levi and Tarojae and Andrew Forman and Corey Cooper all had great games. We knew we had to play fast and score points because Glen Mills does not score a lot of points. They are a strong defensive team and we knew we had to attack.’
