Hawks now have eye on Hershey
Fast start carries Bethlehem Catholic to third straight title
Bethlehem Catholic coach Scott McClary was not a happy man as he left Whitehall High School Tuesday night following his team’s District 11 Class 4A semifinal win over Wilson.
“I thought that was one of our worst games of the year, and Wednesday was absolutely 1,000 percent our best practice of the year,” McClary said. “That tells me everything I need to know about the character of these guys. You don’t get to 25-3 without having the ability to stay together and bounce back.”
The bounce back came in the form of an impressive 65-49 victory by the Golden Hawks over Allentown Central Catholic at Freedom High School.
It was Becahi’s third straight district title and according to McClary, the fifth championship his squad has won this year.
“We our holiday tournament, the Steel Division title, the EPC regular season title, the EPC tournament and now District 11 4A,” McClary said.
If there’s a sixth championship it would come in Hershey in three weeks and it would end a 33-year drought for area boys basketball.
If the Golden Hawks play with the tenacity they had early, there’s a chance they could end the season with a celebration in the Giant Center.
“We’re going to take a run at a sixth,” McClary said. “But this about having our best practice of the year in practice No. 53 that made the difference. We don’t win on Friday if we don’t win on Wednesday and it started with out seniors.”
The Golden Hawks didn’t allow Central to score over the game’s four minutes and 43 seconds in building a 10-0 lead. The Vikings (17-9) stumbled out of the gate with 4-for-14 shooting and seven turnovers and Becahi
built a 28-11 lead.
“I credit Bethlehem Catholic for our slow start,” CCHS coach Dennis Csensits said. “They came out focused and ready to play and their energy knocked us back on our heels and their defense was excellent. That’s a trademark and something Coach McClary has been able to do all year with those guys.”
To its credit, Central fought back and got back within 11 late in the second quarter, but Becahi started the second half nearly as strong as the first half and opened up a 45-27 advantage. Even though Sam Vaughan gave the Vikings a lift with back-toback 3-pointers, Becahi’s lead never was cut to single digits.
CCHS senior Chad Kratzer, one of the area’s top scorers at 21.6 points per game, couldn’t get on track. He was effectively shadowed by Becahi’s Julian Thomas and held to 4-for-15 shooting and just 14 points.
Nick Filchner, who had a big night against Northwestern Lehigh in Central’s semifinal win, had just seven points. He was guarded by Justin Paz, who led all scorers with 21 points, including nine in the final stanza when he was 5-for-5 at the line.
“We had a good feeling about this game because we actually put out two good practices after what happened Tuesday night,” Thomas said. “I was locked in on defense and knew I had to shut down Chad.”
To be Young again
Becahi senior center Kyle Young played sparingly against Wilson and finished with a season-low three points.
He came back strong with 13 points, 11 rebounds and several blocks.
The Golden Hawks owned the boards, limiting the Vikings to few second-chance opportunities.
Friendly foes
McClary, who was an assistant coach at Central Catholic last year, said it was an emotional experience.
“This was a hard matchup for me because Dennis [Csensits] is a dear friend and the players were great to me last year,” McClary said. “So that balanced out any potential advantage I may have had knowing their personnel from last season.”
Csensits was also complimentary toward McClary.
“It’s always hard to compete against your good friends,” Csensits said. “He’s done a tremendous job with the Bethlehem Catholic program this year. They have the record they have for a reason. I think we’ll both represent District 11 well when the state tournament begins next week.”
CCHS will face the No. 3 seed from District 12 (Bartram or Archbishop Carroll). Becahi will face the No. 5 entry from District 12 on Friday night.
Sites, times and pairings will be made official on Sunday.Brown