Bethlehem Catholic came into ‘The Hive’ at Emmaus on Monday night as an underdog in their matchup with the Hornets who were a perfect 9-0 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
The Golden Hawks were coming off a 15-point loss to Easton just a few days ago and they were without two of their top scorers due to injury – freshman Kam Gallis and senior Aliyah Brame – who combine for 33 points a game.
None of that seemed to matter to head coach Arnold Alleyne’s squad.
Becahi just turned to their defense to stun the Hornets and knock them from the ranks of the unbeaten.
The Golden Hawks held Emmaus to its lowest point total of the season and used a 17-1 run in the fourth quarter to close out an impressive win as they handed the Hornets just their second loss of the season at home in a 50-35 victory before a playoff-like atmosphere.
Senior Brooklyn Lewis had a career-night in leading Becahi to the victory scoring 12 of her 20 points in the second half as Becahi overcame 25 turnovers in the game to bounce back and hand Emmaus just its third loss of the season.
“I never put it (a loss) on them. It’s always on me,” said Hornets head coach Avon Mack following the game.
“We have some young girls that have to grow up and go through these growing pains. I don’t want them to feel like we’re losing faith in them, we are just going to continue to build their confidence. Games like this happen. It’s just one loss, nothing more than that.”
Emmaus, which had defeated Bethlehem Catholic a season ago to win its first league championship in 18 years, overcame as much a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter to take the lead, but the Hornets struggled in the final eight minutes of the game – despite forcing numerous Becahi turnovers – as they managed just two fields and were outscored 17-6.
“It’s no good if you get the turnovers and do nothing with it,” said Mack. “You have to be able to score off of turnovers to be effective.”
“We had the defensive team we wanted on the floor in the open court but once we got in the half court it got to their advantage,” said Mack. “They (Becahi) did a great job of getting it inside and getting easy baskets.”
Freshman Ayva Radande also had a big game for Becahi scoring nine of her 11 points in the second half. Senior Leah Ault added nine points in the win and classmate Kendall Nickisher added eight for the Golden Hawks, who improved to 9-1 in the league and 10-2 overall.
The Hornets (9-1/11-3) were led by senior Olive Whitney who had five 3-pointers and 15 points. Classmate Gabby DeVita added 13, and with her five points in the first quarter, moved into ninth all-time on the Emmaus girls’ basketball scoring list passing Cindy Werley who had scored 1,097 points during her career.
Emmaus’ other three starters – sophomores Eva Glover and Gracie Ervin along with senior Sierra Stevens – combined for just five points in the game.
The Hornets will look to bounce back on Thursday at 7 p.m. as they travel to Whitehall.
To stay up to date with Emmaus sports, follow on ‘X’ and like Emmaus sports on facebook.
Becahi 50, Emmaus 35
BC – 9-11-13-17 – 50
Em – 9-8-12-6 – 35
BC – Avaughna Gordon 0, Leah Ault 3 2-3 9, Ayva Radande 5 1-3 11, Kendall Nickischer 3 2-2 8, Brooklyn Lewis 7 5-5 20, Kyah Fagan 1 0-0 2, Isabella Borsuk 0. Totals: FG 19, FT 10-13, 3s (2 – Ault, Lewis)
Em – Olive Whitney 5 0-0 15, Eva Glover 1 0-2 2, Gabby DeVita 5 2-3 13, Gracie Ervin 0 1-2 1, Sierra Stevens 1 0-0 2, Sophia Shutkufksi 0, Gabby East 0, Olivia Haberl 0, Makayla McGinnis 1 0-0 2. Totals: FG 13, FT 3-7, 3s (6 – Whitney 5, DeVita)