Hawks uphold tradition in victory
This really shouldn’t surprise anybody. Actually, it’s a tradition for the Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball program: trounce the first-round state opponent.
Junior guard Kourtney Wilson scored 16 points in a little more than a half on 7-of-9 shooting, and defense and depth once again carried the day in the Golden Hawks’ easy 46-22 victory over District 4 champ Shikellamy in a PIAA first-round game on Wednesday night in Bethlehem.
For one thing, the Hawks remain undefeated in PIAA first-round games at 16-0 to improve to 36-12 overall in 16 appearances. Becahi (9-7) has beaten first-round opponents the last 12 seasons by an average of 23 points, with victories by 49, 34 and 31 thrown in. The closest game was an eight-point affair.
This one was 35-6 just before halftime after the Hawks scored 23 straight points, including the first 15 of the second quarter. Wilson scored the first basket of the second half before her night was soon over. All of the starters were gone shortly
after with the backups playing just as hard as their teammates for the entire fourth quarter.
The Hawks, with almost a completely different team, won their first two PIAA games last season before their 29-0 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bench
Junior Cydney Stanton once again effectively came off the bench to spark Becahi even more in the first half, while 5-7 sophomore guard Yarian Fernandez also made her presence felt. Eight players had a point, rebound, steal or assist in the first quarter and 13 played in the first half.
“Credit to everybody that comes off the bench,” Stanton said. “We always talk about doing the little things and that’s what we did today. We rebounded, assisted and whatever else was necessary.”
Rigo the gamer
That’s what you call a player like 5-foot-11 sophomore forward Kendra Rigo.
She broke her nose on the first play of the District 11 title game. She had surgery Tuesday and was in the starting lineup the following day, scoring six points in the Hawks’ opening salvo.
“Surgery yesterday. anesthesia yesterday,” Becahi coach Jose Medina said. “Comes to practice to be involved. We had to hold her out. She wanted to practice. She’s a gamer and she’s grown throughout the season.”
“It took some time getting used to the [protective] mask,” said Rigo, who wore two masks, one to protect her nose. “My peripheral vision was not good, but I got used to it pretty quick.
“It was exciting to get off to a strong start as a team. Everybody was involved. We had to rebuild the team this year, but we’re doing pretty good.”
A tradition of defense
If there’s one thing that every Hawks team has had under Medina, it’s defensive intensity.
Wilson was at the top of a 1-3-1 halfcourt press early in the game creating havoc. Then they went man and held Shikellamy (5-13) to 2-for-27 shooting until the final two minutes of the second quarter.
“That’s what it’s all about this time of year: defense,” Medina said. “When
we hold teams under 50, we are now 9-0. When we give up 50, we’re 0-7. For us that’s where it all starts.
“The girls do a great job of what we ask them. And they did a great job defending the perimeter tonight because that’s what they like to do.”
What’s next
The Golden Hawks advance to the quarterfinal round, where they’ll
travel to meet District 12 power and undefeated Cardinal O’Hara (14-0) on Saturday at a time to be determined.
“Last year we had our season stolen from us when we were doing good [and were] undefeated,” Rigo said. “Now we want to keep that same momentum going that got us to where we were last year.
“We’re getting more comfortable with each other and we’re getting better every game.”