At halftime of Bethlehem Catholic’s boys’ basketball 73-65 EPC quarterfinal victory over Easton, Becahi coach Scott McClary told his Hawks there’s going be a little more chaos in the playoffs, so they would have to keep their composure and keep fighting.

There was bound to be some chaos in this meeting of two talented Steel Division teams with one win and one loss apiece against each other this season, who would challenge each other from the first whistle to the final buzzer.

As the Hawks took a quick 8-2 lead, the Red Rovers responded with five threes in that first quarter, two from Aaron Clark.

“Coach made it known in the huddle, and it was a little concerning but we knew they weren’t going to shoot that well the whole game so we just got on their shooters and tried to do a better job,” said Becahi junior Julian Thomas. “We played them twice before and they gave us really great games. They gave us our first loss in the league, so they’re a great team and it was great playing them.”

Becahi and Easton traded buckets throughout the second quarter, but Becahi’s Bryan Santana scored twice when Kyle Young threw long both times, and Justin Paz hit a three to make the score 42-36 with the Hawks leading at halftime.

“They had some shot makers, but we tried to prevent them from driving, so they got the open looks,” Paz said. “We weren’t really down on ourselves because we knew we would fight back and we still had the lead, so just closing out harder and containing the drive helped out on defense.”

Santana hit a three to start the third quarter, but so did Easton’s Derek Jacobs, and a jumper by Chris Hewey tied the game at 49.

“Coach said it’s playoff basketball and everybody’s going to give us their best shot, and it’s been like that all year. I’ve always been taught to play hard because this is the game I love, so I give 100-percent and do what I’ve got to do to help the team win,” said Thomas, who had 10 points on the night.

“I thought we could win the whole game. We just needed to step it up on defense. It was really in the third quarter I thought we played great defense and then the last three or four minutes when they tied the game we got a lot of stops.”

One of the biggest stops came in the final seconds of the third when Easton had possession but missed shots which would have given them the lead.

Becahi’s Zamar Brake sank four free throws in the fourth to take back the Hawks’ lead which the Red Rovers had after a three by Dyjuan Johnson. Ryan Boylan tied the game for the Red Rovers again with 2:23 left in regulation.

After Young was fouled at 2:16, the Hawks sealed the win on eight free throws.

Paz was the top scorer for Becahi with 24 points, followed by Young who had 23.

“Before a game, I do my own shoot around, and my father, he’s been a great help to me on every game day. He pushes me around just like these games do, Easton and our whole Steel Division. Especially the crowd too. Great crowd tonight,” said Paz.

“Before the game, I don’t say anything to anyone. I just pump up my teammates before the game. Even with the other team, you show sportsmanship, but I don’t really smile until the end when it’s for sure good. This was a great win, a hard-fought game. That’s when I smile. Now, I can breathe, relax, and then, get ready for Nazareth.”

Becahi will take on Nazareth on Tuesday night, past Press deadlines. The winner will play in the EPC final on Friday night at Easton Area Middle School.

Freedom

Nazareth advanced thanks to its overtime victory over Freedom in the opening round of play.

The Pates jumped out a 17-12 lead but it was the Eagles who took over the second quarter to pull ahead 29-24 heading into the half.

Freedom came out hot in the third quarter scoring 21 points and taking a 45-36 lead into the final frame.

The Pates only managed four points in the final frame as the Eagles rallied to tie the score at 49-49 to force overtime.

Malek Mims led the way with 17 points while Caleb Mims had 13. Nazareth was led by Stephon Sheard’s 23 points. Noah Briggs had two threes for 10 points.