The East Penn Conference will prove again to be competitive this basketball season and Bethlehem Catholic figures to fit right into the equation.

The Hawks are coming off a 10-12 season and return three varsity returners from a year ago.

Head coach Scott McClary hopes that mix of senior leadership and newcomers can help push the Hawks into a playoff position by season’s end.

“I think we are a middle of the pack team that will have to combine five seniors with a few young guys to form our core,” said McClary. “The seniors are well positioned for a great year but will need to lean on and incorporate the young guys to see where we can get to by the end of the season. As always, we aspire to qualify for both the EPC playoffs as well as the District 11 playoffs each year.”

Returning players this year for Beca include seniors Parker McClary (PG), Jackson Wickenheiser (Wing) and Sammy Barona (Wing).

Seniors Roman Jackson and Brodie Muir will be two of the newcomers in the rotation.

“We have a challenging schedule ahead, but our guys have had a tremendous off season of work,” said McClary. “I am excited to see what this group can do. We will not be the biggest team out there, but we are very skilled and have four coaches sons on the team. We have many interchangeable parts on both offense and defense.”