Bethlehem Catholic’s voyage in the East Penn Conference tournament came to an end last Friday night. The eighth-seeded Hawks fell to top-seeded Allen 67-58 to end a potential run to Monday’s semifinal round at the PPL Center in Allentown.

However, with the league tourney in the rear view, head coach Scott McClary can now focus on districts next week with a full week of preparation for the 4A bracket, where the Hawks will likely be the third seed coming in.

“We are very excited about being in the district tournament and proud to have earned a bid there,” said McClary. “We hope to use that tournament to also qualify for states. All these teams also earned their way in and as far as I know, it is not a series, but a single game each round. Its hard to win. The other teams work hard and prepare as well. We will not take anyone for granted and will prepare to do the best we can.”

Becahi (12-11) prepared the best way they could in the lead up to their game against Allen (19-4), leading 32-21 at halftime, before Allen pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring them 18-11 in the frame.

Ryan Glassmacher led the Hawks with 18 points, while Isaiah Alexander chipped in 14 points in the loss.

It marked the second straight game that the Hawks took on the Canaries, since both teams played in the regular season finale.

“I was proud of how we prepared for the two days leading up to the game after being there the previous game,” McClary said. “We had two great days of practice and I think that is why we were able to put up such a great fight for three quarters.

“In the end, having 19 turnovers and giving up 14 offensive rebounds are just too much to overcome on the road against a really good team.”

With districts ahead, the Hawks won’t be facing the same type of daunting competition they saw nightly in the EPC, or the Steel Division, for that matter, but that doesn’t mean anything will be handed to them.

“We will be focused on cleaning up our turnovers and rebounding, since we have some control over those,” McClary said. “I imagine that the style of play by the opponent will be different from Steel Division teams, including Central Catholic. The Steel Division was a very athletic and aggressive style of play this year. Most of the teams in our district tournament do not play so aggressively, so that may be something we switch up and try to do to them.”