Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks
Coach: Scott McClary (fourth season, 52-22).
2020-21 season: 12-5, 8-3 EPC. Beat North Schuylkill 76-54 and Jim Thorpe 60-39, lost to Allentown Central Catholic 57-42 in the District 11 4A tournament.
Season opener: Dec. 10, vs. LaAcademia Charter in
Jeff Dailey Memorial Tip-Off Tournament at Notre DameGreen Pond.
EPCopener: Dec. 14, host Freedom.
Players to watch: Edixon Gomez (6-1, Sr G) 16.7 ppg; Ryan Glassmacher (6-4, Sr. G-F) 15 ppg; Alex Cercado (5-10, Jr G); Kevin Soto (5-10, Sr. G); Steven Recchio (6-2, Sr. F); Louis Vidal (5-10, Sr. G).
Take note: Becahi’s nonleague games this year are against Dallas and Scranton from District 2, Pottsville Nativity, and Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg. A new member of the coaching staff is Pat Mullaney, a former head coach at Jim Thorpe and the older brother of former Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney. Why the Golden Hawks could be dandy: Few teams offer as much experience and returning scoring punch as Becahi. Gomez and Glassmacher combined for 61 3-pointers last season and Vidal is coming off a stellar showing in the SCBL fall league. The team worked hard on getting better and comes into the season feeling as though it has something to prove.
Why the Golden Hawks could be a dud: McClary said his team “has to get better defensively as a group than we think we need to be. We have a lot of offensive firepower, no doubt, but no matter how good you are offensively you’re not going to win on certain nights on offense alone. We will win on offense a lot of nights, but how do we win on those other nights? To be the best, you’ve got to be consistent and that means you have to win on nights when you’re not playing your best on offense.” The final word: This is one of about six teams that has a chance of getting the gold medals on Feb. 18 when the EPC championship game is set to be held. It may not have returning all-state selections as other teams do, but it has a talented group that’s ready to dig in and compete every night. Nazareth and Becahi rank as the favorites in the EPC’s Steel Division, but McClary cautions that the other teams will be improved. An early indicator of where this team is at comes on Dec. 17 at Rockne Hall against the defending state champs.