Bethlehem Catholic went through a roller-coaster ride in Monday’s PIAA 4A semifinal against Imhotep Charter, but when the final buzzer sounded it was time for the Hawks to get off the ride on their 2017-18 season.

Donta Scott scored a game-high 27 points to help lead Imhotep to a 65-60 victory at Reading’s Geigle Complex. The Panthers (30-2) carry a 21-game winning streak into Thursday’s state championship against District 7’s Sharon, but you can say that Monday’s matchup might have been the real state championship contest.

Justin Paz had an opportunity to even the game at 63 with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter, when he got an open look from the top of the key. Unfortunately, the ball bounced off the back of the rim and Imhotep was able to close out the contest from the line.

It ended a 28-4 campaign for Ray Barbosa’s squad, coming away with EPC and District 11 titles, but coming just short of toppling their formidable adversaries from District 12.

“Kids gave it all they had,” Barbosa said. “We battled back, but execution and missed free throws hurt us, but I’m proud of these guys and what we accomplished. That’s a great program [Imhotep] over there and we stuck to them. We came up short, but what these kids did for the school and the program is great.”

The Hawks did everything they could to tame USA Today’s No. 7 team in the country, partly by jumping out to a 14-1 first quarter lead. With all the momentum on Becahi’s side, Imhotep answered with an 11-0 run, continued by a 32-10 stretch to close out the first half and take a 33-24 lead into intermission.

“They just made shots over our zone,” said Barbosa of the Panthers first half run. “We went to man defense in the second half and that helped, but we just couldn’t stop Scott on some dribble penetration there in the fourth.”

Imhotep looked like they were going to pull away with the game heading into the third, but DeAndre Gardner scored 14-points in the second half, nailing four three-pointers to keep the Hawks hanging around. Kyle Young tied Gardner with a team-high 14 points to keep Becahi within striking distance, as Gardner’s final trey of the night tied the game at 48 with 6:38 left in the fourth.

Scott, however, scored eight in the final frame, taking any isolation matchup straight to the rim, showing why he’s considered a Division-I prospect on a team that was considerably bigger and deeper than Becahi.

Ryan Young battled foul trouble all night and finished with 11 points, while Justin Paz scored 12 points for Becahi on their final night of the season.

“We didn’t give up and we kept playing hard,” Barbosa said. “These guys have worked hard all season and we were able to compete against a team like this, we just weren’t able to get a win tonight. This one hurts though because you’re right there and one game away from everything, but we’ll get back to work in the spring and summer. We’re getting close, year-by-year.”