One of the biggest reasons Bethlehem Catholic has entered the East Penn Conference tournament as the top seed and favorite to win the league is because of the balance and weapons the Hawks have at their disposal.

On Monday night, the Golden Hawks showed that teams are going to need a special performance to take them down in the postseason.

Becahi (20-3, 15-1) jumped out early and never looked back in the EPC quarterfinals at home, handling eighth-seeded Parkland 67-53.

The win moved the Hawks to Wednesday’s semifinals against Allen, which knocked off Pocono Mountain West 76-68 Monday night and set up a rematch of last year’s EPC final, which the Canaries won.

Ryan Young led a dominating performance for Becahi, registering 23 points and 22 rebounds to further cement his status as the league MVP, as Parkland (12-11, 9-7) had no answer for the big man inside.

“We want to put the ball inside every game and we wanted to exploit that early,” said Becahi head coach Ray Barbosa. “The one thing about Ryan is that he’s so unselfish and he’ll kick the ball out, so it’s kind of like pick your poison.”

The other part of Becahi’s poison was Justin Paz’s outside game, as he added 14 points and five assists to keep the Trojans at bay, as Parkland could never close the gap within to within nine points throughout the night at 44-35 midway through the third quarter. From there, Becahi reeled off six straight points in a minute to regain control.

“I thought we were a little timid early in the first quarter, but I thought once we got our bearings we competed pretty well,” said Parkland head coach Andy Stephens, “but once you get down by 10 or 12 points early, it’s hard to come back against a team like that. Beca has all the pieces and they’re really tough to beat if you’re not playing your best.”

Jake Bartholomew led the way for Parkland with 12 points even after sitting out most of the third quarter after landing on his ankle awkwardly early in the period, leaving Parkland without their top scoring threat. Jake Melady scored all nine of his points in the second half to try and fill in for Bartholomew’s absence, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep Becahi at bay.

Young’s presence inside altered shots in the lane and any rebound was gobbled up by the Young tandem, as his brother Ryan, finished with eight points and eight rebounds as well.

Now the Trojans can sit back and prepare for next week’s District 11 Class 6A tournament, where Stephens feels confident about his team’s chances.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of confidence going into districts,” he said. “We knew getting into leagues it would be tough and matching up with Beca was tough, but I think the district is wide open and we’re setting our expectations high.”