Bethlehem Catholic's girls basketball season came to a shocking conclusion in the second round of the PIAA State Class AAA Girls Basketball Championships when the Hawks fell to District 3's Conrad Weiser 48-44 last Wednesday at Souderton Area High School.

Becahi coach Jose Medina said, "It's going to sting. Definitely, for the seniors, I feel for them. It hurts."

Those seniors, Kalista Walters, Nicole Lacherza, and Maggie Melhem, led the Hawks to a record of 27-2 this year.

At face value, it appeared as though the Hawks' game against Conrad Weiser (22-8) could be a repeat of their victory against Lancaster Catholic, which took place four days prior.

Halfway through the first quarter, Becahi led Conrad Weiser 16-4, and that 12-point gap was similar to that of the Hawks' early lead over Lancaster.

On Wednesday, Walters scored first against the Conrad Weiser Scouts, hitting a triple, which was followed by a triple by Melhem, and two triples by Tessa Zamolyi.

Little did anyone realize, however, that two quick fouls for Becahi in the first minute and 15 seconds would be any indication of what was to come. Shortly before the second quarter had even expired, Walters was on the bench with four fouls.

Medina said, "It hurts when you don't have your best player on the floor."

Even so, both teams were scoreless in the second quarter until Conrad Weiser's Gwyn Price hit a three with 3:40 left in the half, and Becahi's Jordynn Jones scored two points with 2:55 left.

"They switched up the zone in the second quarter. We wanted to identify and find our shot. They were speeding us up a little," said Medina.

With Walters still out in the third quarter, the Hawks held their own for most of those eight minutes. Melhem scored five points right away, but the Scouts were responding offensively, ultimately outscoring the Hawks, 13-7. In addition, Jones picked up her third foul with three minutes left in the quarter.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Becahi led 33-32, and Walters re-entered the game, but the Scouts stole the lead when Price hit another three pointer.

That's when Melhem and Walters took control. Melhem fed to Walters, and Walters rebounded Melhem's misses to score six points. Becahi had the lead, so with less than two minutes left and nothing to lose, Conrad Weiser's Kennedy Lutz attempted a three pointer and scored, and attempted a steal which forced a turnover resulting in two points by TaCari Talford.

Walters tied the game 44-44 on two foul shots, and after the Scouts' timeout, Hannah Racis put Conrad Weiser ahead by two.

Medina called a timeout with 19 seconds left in the game.

"We wanted to get the ball to Kalista. We knew they would collapse on her. Jordynn was right there, she got a good look at it, but it just didn't go in," Medina said.

The Scouts recovered the ball, and Talford put the exclamation point on the win for Conrad Weiser.

As shock turned to tears at game's end, the Hawks fell to the floor, and Medina gently lifted each player to her feet.

"It's tough when you," Medina paused. "It hurts. It hurt picking them up."

If nothing else, Medina is using the loss as a life lesson for the Hawks.

"We want to use it to propel them forward. We had shots, we had looks. Sometimes they don't go in," he said. "Bottom line, everything starts with me."