Bethlehem Catholic’s boys’ basketball team has had their fair share of close contests throughout the season, but the Hawks may have saved their best for last in the EPC championship Saturday at Easton Area Middle School when they took down Emmaus 46-44 for the league title.

Justin Paz’s layup with 2.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in the finale and helped push Becahi (22-3) to their second straight conference crown.

The victory came on the heels of Paz’s miraculous buzzer beater in the league semifinals, when he hoisted a one-handed three pointer at the buzzer to defeat Nazareth 57-55.

This time around, Paz drove the length of the court after an Ethan Parvel layup tied the game for Emmaus at 44-44 with 10 seconds left in the fourth. With nobody putting pressure on him until he reached the lane on the ensuing inbounds pass, Paz calmly banked in the winning field goal and his consecutive game-winning shot in as many games.

“My job was just to go and try and score,” said Paz of the winner. “As soon as we inbounded the ball, I was gone. I knew I was taking it to the hole right away and even if I missed I knew Kyle Young was there to put back a rebound.”

Paz finished with a game-high 17 points, scoring 12 in the second half. His three-pointer with 4:19 in the third quarter gave Becahi a 27-26 lead, their first advantage in the game since early in the second quarter. The Hawks ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 34-29 lead into the final stanza, where it looked like they may take control.

Parvel scored seven of his team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter, as he and Paz traded jabs late. Parvel hit a deep three-pointer to bring the Hornets (20-5) within 43-42 with 46 seconds left in the game and then eventually tied it late with his own drive before Paz extinguished any momentum for overtime with his game-winner.

After defeating the Hornets 80-67 back in early January, Hawk head coach Scott McClary knew this time things would be much closer.

“I thought there were a lot of great teams in the league this year, but this game had the two best teams,” said McClary. “We knew this was going to be a much different game than last time, but we’ve played four or five overtime games this year and our guys have prevailed. I think it says a lot about our mental toughness, because when Parvel made the big shot to tie it, we never dropped our heads. I’m just really proud of these guys.”

Becahi now moves on to the District 11 4A tournament as the top-seed with an opening round contest against eighth-seeded Pine Grove Friday night at Northampton slated for 7:30 p.m.

The Hawks are in the drivers seat to make another run at the district title, with second-seeded Central Catholic being their top threat in the tourney, as both teams wouldn’t see each other until the championship.

While forecasting what will happen a week from now may not be ideal, it’s fair to say that the Hawks certainly have a boost in their step heading into districts.

“It gives us a lot of momentum and we’ve played a 5A and 6A schedule all year, so it’ll really help us going into districts,” said Paz. “Every team plays great against us no matter what and we realize that, but I think we’ve been through so much this year that we’re more than ready for the postseason.”