In the early going, Bethlehem Catholic had some difficulties adjusting to Jim Thorpe’s 3-2 floating zone defense.

Once they did, the Golden Hawks validated their top seed in the district Class 4A playoffs and their advancement to the bracket’s fifth-straight championship game, as they thumped fifth-seed Jim Thorpe, 60-39, in a semifinal playoff game.

Both teams were scrappy in an up-tempo format through the first quarter until Becahi opened up the game with an 8-2 spurt to begin the second quarter, and they gained momentum toward a 31-17 halftime advantage when lone senior forward Caden McClary swished three consecutive three-pointers in the final three minutes to provide the visiting Olympians with a challenging second-half deficit.

Becahi was led by junior guard Edixton Gomez, who led a somewhat balanced attack with 14 points, and fellow junior Steven Recchio had 13.

Gomez, who missed all of last season with an ACL tear, is enjoying the moment as his team will seek to capture its fourth championship in a rematch with defending champion Allentown Central Catholic at the PPL Center in Allentown Thursday afternoon.

He credited McClary’s leadership as well as some inspiration from head coach Scott McCleary.

“He inspired me and all of us to get better and gave us some energy,” said Gomez. “Coach also pulled me aside and told me what to correct.

“It was difficult to shoot three-pointers in their zone, but we figured out what to do. We are very well together right now and we’re a family headed toward the championship.”

McClary and his teammates made the adjustments at halftime to take over the game in the second half.

“They kicked it out to me in the corner and I had an open look,” said McClary of his three-pointers. “At halftime, our coach told us what we had to do better and how to guard them more.

“There was a lot of momentum in the locker room at halftime, and we carried that over. We’re on a good roll now and everyone is sharing the ball.”

Head coach Scott McClary saw his team a little over anxious at the start.

“We played really well Friday night and our defense generated some quick offense,” said McClary. “We were forcing some things early, but we were driving the zone.”

“In the second quarter, we started making better decisions at the point of attack and that got us the looks. When we knocked them down, we exhaled a little. We loosened up more in the second quarter and got the ball more in the paint.”

Jim Thorpe’s Caiden Hurley, one of five seniors, knew it would be an uphill battle against Becahi, but he saw overall improvement throughout the season. Sophomore Kaiden Herron led the Olympians with nine points.

“They were bigger and faster than us, but they just got in the paint and hit shots,” he said. “Once they got a flow, we had to change our defense. But they had the guards to change things.

“I definitely think we did a lot better than I thought we would. We started off 0-4 and then went ona seven-game win streak. From there, we kept winning more games. We lost a lot of games last year, and it was a great comeback season for us.”