After winning the East Penn Conference crown and the District 11 4A championship last season, what does Bethlehem Catholic have in store for an encore?

With only four players with varsity experience back from last year’s 26-4 season, head coach Scott McClary’s second season on the Becahi bench will be drastically different from his inaugural campaign.

“This team could struggle in the beginning, as our schedule is brutal and we are very inexperienced,” said McClary. “I do think we have some good pieces and can get stronger by the end of the season and make some noise.”

Those four players back for the Hawks are seniors Julian Thomas, Matt Stianche, Ryan Santana and Bryan Santana. All four of those players are wings, according to McClary, which leaves open spots for the likes of juniors Caden McClary and Daniel Palacios to compete, along with sophomores Ryan Glassmacher and Isaiah Alexander. Additionally, freshman Alex Cercado will compete for a role this year.

“The areas that we will need to account for are taking care of the ball versus pressure and finding a way to defensive rebound,” McClary said. “The steel division is loaded with the best teams in the EPC this year along with Central Catholic from the Skyline. Allen, Freedom, Easton and Liberty are all going to be very good this year.”