Octorara continues to thrive as small fish in big Ches-Mont pond
WEST FALLOWFIELD >> Octorara may be the smallest school in the Ches-Mont League, sitting within a stone’s throw of the Chester-Lancaster county line. head coach Gene Lambert has kept the Braves front and center of the Ches-Mont discussion since taking over in 2001.
The Braves won the Ches-Mont League title in 2012 and took home the American Division in 2015 and 2016 seasons.
And, although the players change, Lambert and his loyal assistants, Jason Rolston, Tim Kaufmann, Chris Henley and Keith Lambert have all helped the Braves leader win District 1 titles in both 2011 and 2014.
“First of all, we put a lot of time in both the summer leagues and my fall league here at Octorara,” said Lambert. “The kids know I have their back because they give me so much time in the offseason and we give to them. It is a mutual thing.
“I think it is part of a good coach’s job to get his kids into college,” Lambert added. “If they are going to put in all this time, I want them to know I will do whatever it takes to help them succeed in life. I tell them I am your coach for the rest of your life. And to do it with all my friends who are on my staff is a good thing. We just wanted to see if we could do something right and it has turned out.”
Octorara, which opens the season Friday against Church Farm at the Octorara Tournament, is in a unique situation this year and next. The Braves will be leaving the Ches-Mont and District 1 in all sports beginning in 2018. The Braves will join the Lancaster-Lebanon League at the start of the 2018 school year and become a part of District 3.
It was Lambert, who is also the athletic director at Octorara, who made it happen. Outside of boys basketball, the Braves struggle mightily in most of the other sports with the larger Ches-Mont League schools.
“We just had to make the move,” Lambert said. “It will be good for our kids and the morale at the school. We will miss the Ches-Mont but we can’t compete in most sports so you have to do what is best for the kids. The losing takes a toll on the kids and the coaches.”
Doing what is best for the kids is something the Braves head coach has been doing since he took over from Ray Wessner in 2001. You can’t go more than five minutes when you talk to Lambert before you hear about how he is trying to get this kid or that kid into a college where he has a chance to succeed.
Another former Ches-Mont League head coach — Sean Harvey of Oxford, now athletic director at Kennett — also came into the league in 2001, and had many legendary battles with the Braves head coach.
“We both came in at the same time and we have been good friends,” Harvey said. “And Gene is all about the kids. His teams are always prepared and they play an up-tempo style. His kids play hard but they always play the right way. There is no nonsense with Gene’s teams. They battle you to the end no matter the score and I really respect the type of program Gene has run at Octorara.”
Lambert’s teams are known for pushing the ball up the floor, a style that most of his Octorara players seem to have taken a liking to. Former Brave Jackson Ray talked about playing for Lambert after last season’s district loss to Holy Ghost Prep.
“We like to play coach Lambert’s style,” Ray said. “We like that he allows us to push the ball and it is fun to play in his system. It gives us a lot of freedom.”
Lambert fully acknowledges he is a players coach and he likes to allow his kids to feel that have freedom on the floor. Something that was in full evidence when the Braves battled Harvey’s excellent Oxford clubs.
“The thing with playing against Sean and his teams are that you know you are going to be in for a battle,” Lambert said. “We both like to run up the court. and you know that Sean is going to make adjustments on the fly and at at halftime. It was great to compete against a friend and someone who knows so much about basketball.”
Octorara had another stellar season last year, going 20-6 and qualifying for the Ches-Mont League Final Four before losing to Downingtown West in the semifinals, in what may have been Lambert’s best coaching job. Something that was not lost on another Ches-Mont League coach, Keith Cochran of West Chester Rustin.
“Gene did a great job, especially last season,” Lambert said. “He had an all new team and they still had a great year. His teams are always prepared and his kids play hard all the time. We are going to miss him in the Ches-Mont but he had to do what is best for his kids and his school.”
Lambert tells his kids there is more than basketball to the high school experience, something he preaches all the time.
“I tell the kids if you listen and do your school work and put the time in with basketball and in the classroom, then you can achieve your goals. I take a lot of pride in in their success and when they get accepted to a college I don’t think anything could make me happier.”
