Bethlehem Catholic and Lancaster Catholic have seen recent Class 4A PIAA state championships, so their contest on Jan. 25 at Becahi was a competitive yet friendly rivalry in which the Hawks took early control and won, 58-43.

“We found that 68% of their points come in transition so we needed to get back on defense, slowing them down and forcing them to run sets against our defense, and I think that worked for us tonight, making them work for their points,” said Becahi center Abby Brown. “We build energy off of our defense and I think Jaleesa Lanier did a really good job of leading our defense.”

Lanier had a big job to do, guarding Lancaster’s Sommer Reeser, who game into the game with 48 threes.

“It was a lot of work but something I had to step up to do,” Lanier said. “She was very quick so I had to chase her a few times. It was kind of hard keeping track of her.”

Brown closed out the first half with a three pointer, but that was only the beginning as she tallied 14 points in the game. Teammate Kourtney Wilson had 15 points.

“Penetration and the kick out is what was helping me,” said Brown. “The corner is kind of my sweet spot so that’s where I like to shoot from. I’ve been struggling from there recently but today they were falling.”

Lancaster Catholic went on a run at the end of the third quarter, scoring nine straight points and cutting their deficit from 12 to five.

“I thought for the first three quarters we did a good job of getting back on defense,” said Becahi coach Jose Medina. “The end of the third and in the fourth, they were able to get some easy shots in transition and got themselves back in the game. They were speeding us up top and we were taking the bait.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, Lancaster Catholic found themselves down by double digits again, hurt mostly by fouls and two three pointers by Keyara Walters.

“I’m proud of my team. It has been a rivalry since freshman year,” said Lanier. “It was a challenge in the beginning, but then we always come out in the third quarter really hard.”