There was nothing the Golden Hawks wanted to do more than bask in the glow of the gold that hung around their necks after being crowned District XI Class 4A boys basketball champions in their 45-40 victory over Wilson Area last Friday night at Easton Area Middle School.

“We’re going to enjoy this one,” a smiling Becahi head coach Scott McGlary repeatedly said after the Hawks forged their way to a district championship, because if anyone thought it would be an easy task to shake off the Warriors, they didn’t pay attention during the regular season.

“They won the Colonial League, they were the number-one seed for a reason, and they’re well-coached. They’re a good program,” McClary said. “I knew it would be difficult matchups to guard them. We were worried about that, and then in the first half, we didn’t have a lot of great success early offensively against the zone. I think that got our guys tight and frustrated.

“The close to the second quarter was big because it made things positive for us in the locker room, and that really helped. Just had to stay together. It’s been a two-year run of unbelievable adversity for our country and for all of us. We’ve had roster changes, COVID, shutdowns, shortened seasons, an unbelievable rash of injuries, and we just had to stay together. These guys got rewarded for doing that. I’m really proud of them.”

Approaching halftime, the Hawks went on a 9-0 run capped off by Edixon Gomez’s 3-pointer after holding for the last shot, and the teams were knotted at 22-22.

Three minutes earlier, McClary didn’t like what he was seeing: a nine-point Warrior lead.

“Our coach called a timeout and said, ‘You have no energy.’ He called us flat out and that was true, and me and a couple other guys went out there and we’re yelling, ‘Let’s pick our energy up.’ And we did,” said Becahi forward Steve Recchio. “We were preaching that in the locker room too, and without that, I don’t think we win that game. That defensive energy was what we needed to be the spark and allow us to win that game.”

A big part of the Hawks’ game plan was to stop Wilson guards Na’shawn Jones and Shamel Gibson, who combined for 15 first-half points.

“[Jones and Gibson] are exceptional offensive players and all the credit in the world to them,” said Recchio, who had seven points of his own, including a layup off a steal. “They kept them in that game, especially [Jones]. He was shooting the heck out of the ball at the end, and even though they scored on us, I think we held them at bay enough in order to win that game.”

Becahi opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run on points from Gomez, Alex Cercado, and Ryan Glassmacher, prompting Wilson coach Mike Glovas to call a timeout.

“We knew we had to get stops on defense, and that set up our transition offense and everything started flowing from then,” Glassmacher said. “They were really aggressive in the first half, and they surprised us on how they were making shots and getting back on defense. They played really well.”

The Warriors came back from their timeout with a 3-pointer by Jones and a put back off Cayden Stem’s miss.

Cercado had a layup off a turnover, putting Becahi ahead 41-33, but another three by Jones and a layup by Gibson brought the Warriors to within three points with a little more than two minutes remaining.

That’s when Cercado converted on another layup, forcing Wilson to intentionally foul the rest of the way.

“In the first half I had two turnovers so I had to stay composed,” Cercado said. “My teammates helped me a lot, and I couldn’t have done it without them. Once we got it popping, we all contributed in our own way.”

Friday night’s game started out in an unconventional way with a technical foul called on Becahi forward Jared Richardson for dunking during warmups, resulting in Coach McClary having to sit for the second half.

This week, Bethlehem Catholic will host South Philadelphia in the opening around of PIAA State playoffs at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, past Press deadlines.

“Ryan and I are the only two players from that (district) championship team [in 2019], so we felt what it feels like to win a championship, and we also felt what it feels like to fall,” said Recchio. “We knew this was our last shot at it and we had to take advantage of it.”