Bethlehem Catholic took an early lead against Northwestern Lehigh in the boys 4A district quarterfinal, stretched it out to a sizable lead and then withstood the storm as the Tigers battled back. In the end, the Golden Hawks picked up a 56-39 win over NW to advance to the semifinal round of districts and lock up a spot in the PIAA tournament that begins later this month.

The Hawks (13-11) had two weeks off, but the down time didn’t seem to affect them very much as they scored on their first trip down the court and moved out to a 6-0 lead before NW got on the board midway through the first quarter. When the rest of the quarter had been played, the lead stood at nine for Becahi when Scott McClary buried a three-pointer with less than a minute left.

“When you have two weeks off, you never quite know how they’re going to handle it,” said Becahi coach Scott McClary. “I was really pleased with our energy in the first quarter and our defense sort of set the tone for the game.”

Having had a long layoff of their own, the Tigers seemingly remembered that they are first and foremost known for their defense. Along with a tougher defense in the second quarter, came a rejuvenated offense that combined to rattle off a 7-0 run and make it a 15-11 game midway through the second quarter. Northwestern would cut further into the lead and make it a two-point game before Beca found a couple of quick baskets and led 24-18 at the half.

“We forced some things in the second quarter, but we were always in attack mode and when we play like that we have a chance,” said the Hawks coach.

Northwestern (11-12) came out firing in the second half and again made it a two-point game. At that point, Beca’s Ryan Glassmacher and Matt Stianche would combine for nine points over the next two-minutes as the Hawks reeled off an 11-0 run, putting Northwestern Lehigh down 39-26. Glassmacher started the run with a three-pointer and it was capped off by Bryan Santana, who hit on a two-pointer with 2:01 left in the quarter.

Northwestern coach Billy Hallman admitted that BC’s athleticism played a key role in the game for the Hawks.

“Their athleticism kind of wore us down a bit as the game went on and they started to play much better defense,” said Hallman. “That run really hurt us and at that point it was tough to come back against a team like that.”

Bethlehem Catholic’s Julian Thomas led all scorers with 16 points in the game, while Northwestern was paced by Deven Bollinger who finished with 13 points.

McClary pointed to his seniors for leading the team, but was pleased with the overall play of his entire roster.

“Julian Thomas set the tone by driving the ball and kicking it out to other guys on the first four or five possessions and I thought Matt Stianche had one of his best games, because he had the task of guarding number-11 [Bollinger]. Matt made every touch that Bollinger got a tough one and that was key.”

The second-seeded Golden Hawks earned a matchup against Tamaqua in the semifinal round. No matter what happens in that game, they will play at least one more district game and then open play in states. Bethlehem Catholic is playing in the district semifinals for the fifth straight season and hoping that the senior class can finish their high school career with a district championship in each of their four seasons.