Golden Hawks look to return to 4A title game
After winning three straight District 11 championships, back-to-back Eastern Pennsylvania Conference crowns, and winning at least 21 games from 2016 to 2019, Bethlehem Catholic took a slight step back in 2019-20.
The Golden Hawks fell to 14-13 overall, 8-8 in the EPC, but still made the district finals and the state tournament.
There was plenty of optimism entering this season because Becahi had two of the area’s most promising sophomores — Isaiah Alexander and Ryan Glassmacher. Plus, Jared Richardson, another junior, was set to make a major impact.
But just before practice was set to begin, Alexander’s family situation changed and he has moved out of the area. He is playing at Archbishop Stepinac at White Plains, New York.
Richardson, a quarterback on Becahi’s football team, suffered a major injury midway through October, and will miss the entire season.
Even with his departure, the Golden Hawks figure to be one of the area’s top teams. Scott McClary, beginning his third season, will make sure his squad doesn’t dip too far.
While there are few proven players, there are several who are off the radar who are ready to step up and show what they can do.
“After two consecutive years where our program lost four of its top six guys and stayed at the top level, we now are facing losing six of our top seven from last season,” he said. “We will look to build upon some guys who can shoot 3s and hope to evolve into a strong defensive team this year, perhaps playing a much slower style than in the past.”
Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks
Coach: Scott McClary (third season, 40-17).
2019-20season: 14-13, 8-8 (fifth in EPC Steel Division).
Postseason: Lost to Allen 67-58 in the EPC tournament. Defeated Northwestern Lehigh 56-39, Tamaqua 56-39 and lost to Central Catholic 52-48 in District 11 4A tournament. Lost to Archbishop Carroll 46-44 in first round of PIAA tournament.
Scheduled opener: At Notre DameGreen Pond, Dec. 18.
Players to watch: Caden McClary (6-4, Sr. F); Ryan Glassmacher (6-4. Jr. G-F); Alex Cercado (5-11, So. G); Edixon Gomez (6-1, Jr. G); Steve Recchio (6-1, Jr. F).
Why are they ranked: With Alexander, the Golden Hawks would have been among the top three teams in the area, possibly No. 1. His absence hurts overall, but there is still plenty of talent spread across the roster. Caden McClary, the coach’s son, is a quality 3-point shooter. Glassmacher led the team with 49 3-pointers last year and Gomez, who didn’t play last year due to a knee injury, will make a major impact.
What to know: The Golden Hawks are trying to schedule extra games while waiting for the EPC season to start on Jan. 15. Becahi will play nonleague games against both Notre Dame and Palmerton in December.
The Golden Hawks made some preseason news with the hiring of former Parkland and Muhlenberg College women’s standout Katy Mitton as an assistant coach. Mitton is believed to be the first female assistant coach in area boys basketball. She replaced Nigel Long on the staff after Long left to become the head coach at Liberty.
The burning desire: It is simply to get healthy and get to play. Becahi had to deal with a mandatory shutdown due to COVID-19 after getting in just six practices. The Golden Hawks will need to get in nine more practices before being allowed to play a game. “In these times, I think we all have learned to define success as simply participating and playing games successfully,” McClary said.
“This team will need a lot of time to grow and who knows what kind of time we will have.”
Conquering the coronavirus: McClary said the team normally has a very “aggressive” summer schedule of activity that had to be scrapped by COVID-19. They were able to compete in the fall league at East Side Youth Center and had some success, but much of that happened with Alexander in the lineup.
The final word: Even with the loss of Alexander and Richardson, Becahi still has good players and a good coach in McClary. With a lack of size and varsity experience, the Golden Hawks still figure to find a way to compete and will use the month of December to figure out roles in time for the EPC season, if it starts as scheduled in mid-January. “The first thing I told the guys [after losing Alexander] is that the destination doesn’t change,” McClary said. “It’s like anything else. You get in the car and the GPS tells you where to go and there’s a road that’s blocked because of construction. What do you do? You figure out a different route. We still want to get to the same place. We’re just going to have to get there differently. It’s not that we can’t get there. We’ve just got to find a different way.”