Bethlehem Catholic's route to the district tournament may have been bumpy, but it's been worthwhile, as the Hawks prepare for the District 11 3A tournament this week

Becahi (11-12) enters as the fifth-seed and take on fourth-seeded Salisbury (15-8) at Allen Friday night at 6 p.m.

It'll be a contest head coach Mike Frew will be looking forward to, following the Hawks latest performance coming against Central Catholic in the Lehigh Valley Conference semifinals that resulted in an abysmal 56-37 defeat.

With that contest behind them, taking lessons away from the Central game and applying them to the district tournament is what Frew hopes can spell into a second straight run at a state tournament berth.

"We're glad to be back in districts and our focus is to try and move on to the next round," said Frew. "We have a lot of respect for what Salisbury has and we know that they're going to be motivated to beat us."

Becahi reached the district finals last year, only to fall to Central Catholic by an 87-61 margin.

The defeat still earned them a spot to the PIAA tournament, as the district sends three teams to states.

Earning a way back this season will be more difficult, since Friday's winner will most likely meet the top-seeded Vikings (24-0) in next Tuesday's semifinals.

But Frew knows that he can't think about the future, but only about what Salisbury brings to the table, as the Falcons have a rich tradition of being a potent team in the district tournament.

"They really capitalize on your mistakes," said Frew. "They have a couple all-league players on their team and they have a tough mentality. We need to play together if we want to win."

Justin Aungst, Eddie Sanchez and Austin Uhl spearhead the Falcons attack.

Aungst averages 13.7 points a game and may be the Falcons best overall player. Sanchez is a slashing guard that averages a shade over 13 points a game and is someone that Frew hopes to neutralize with his guard rotation. Uhl is the meat of Salisbury's inside game, averaging 10 points a contest and bringing the only real height the Falcons have, as he's listed at 6-foot-3.

Frew knows that the quality of competition the Hawks have faced over the calendar should help them as well, but playing together as a team, which was lacking in their LVC playoff contest, is a must for the Hawks if they want any chance to win.

"We scheduled teams like Abington Heights and two Philadelphia Catholic league teams because we wanted to better prepare ourselves for the postseason," said Frew. "We feel confident in that respect, but we need all five guys to be on the same page. I think we learned that from our last game and hopefully we do that on Friday night."