Bethlehem Catholic had themselves a long talk as a team during their trek to York over the holidays. A 59-37 defeat to Danville two days before the New Year left Hawks head coach Mike Frew scratching his head about what to make of his team's defeat, as well as their rough start to the season.

It turned out that a group chat may have been the best thing for Bethlehem Catholic since their holiday trip.

The Hawks went on to defeat York Catholic 76-56 the next day, as four players posted double digits, led by Chance Neilley's 17-points to improve Becahi's overall record to 3-7 on the season.

As the Hawks sit at 2-3 in East Penn Conference action heading into this week, Frew hopes that something has clicked with his young group.

"We had a completely uninspired performance against Danville and guys just weren't working hard enough on the defensive end," said Frew. "We had a team meeting after that and guys got to say some things.

"I think we're still a young team and guys were trying to figure out their roles on the team. The fall season lasted a bit longer for some of our guys and we may have been behind other teams. It was good to hear some of the things our guys said, but now we have to be able to put it all together."

That started on the road last night against Whitehall (6-4, 2-3) and continues this Friday when the Hawks host Nazareth (7-4, 3-4).

It's a vital week for Becahi's playoff hopes, as falling behind the .500 mark any further in EPC play could spell an early elimination from postseason play.

Focusing on the defensive end is what Frew wants his team to buy into, as the Hawks have given up nearly 73 points a game in each of their losses.

"We need to be more consistent on both sides of the ball, but we need to have a different mindset on defense," said Frew. "We need guys to have a lockdown mentality on the defensive end of the court, which is something we didn't have for the most part of the season.

"Being able to find that intensity and buy into that is important for us because we're right in the mix."

Liberty (6-2, 6-0) climbed back into league play Tuesday against Nazareth, followed by Thursday's rescheduled home contest against Eastburg South (3-6, 0-5).

The 'Canes close the week at home against Haverford Saturday.

After a 6-0 start to the season, the Hurricanes dropped both of their holiday tournament contests against Methacton and Perkiomen Valley.

Liberty lost to Methacton 59-51, falling victim to a slow third quarter, which saw them fall behind by eight points heading into the fourth. The third quarter proved to be their demise against Perkiomen Valley the following night, as the 'Canes were outscored by 10.

"You could say it was a dose of reality for our guys," said head coach Chad Landis in regards to his team dealing with their first taste of defeat on the season. "We just didn't come out of halftime with enough energy in both games. We turned it over too much and didn't shoot well from the field. "Hopefully, it got our guys attention on what we to get better at."

Freedom (5-6, 4-2) lost both of their holiday tournament games and then fell to Southern Lehigh 68-62 Monday night.

The Pates were outscored 22-0 in the third quarter of Monday's game, which doomed them in the loss.

The Pates travel to Parkland (9-1, 7-0) Friday and Pocono Mountain West (4-4, 1-3) Saturday afternoon.