The Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball team captured its first state title on Thursday night, knocking off Villa Maria of Erie 46-27 in the girls 4A final.

Becahi was 0-for-2 to that point in state title games, falling as recently as 2013, but this time things would be different, as the Hawks won again using a familiar approach in their playoff run - a quick start.

A ten-point run in the first quarter paved the way and the girls, who again held an opponent to single digits in the opening quarter as they jumped out to a 12-4 lead. Villa Maria would threaten, though, and cut their deficit to 19-12 by halftime.

But the Hawks came out on fire in the second half to pull away for the win.

Freshman Taliyah Medina led all scorers with 13 points while Hope Brown had 11 including two three pointers in the key second half for the Hawks. Senior Tessa Zamolyi had nine and Neila Luma had eight while Natalie Rhine had five.

Katie McDonald and Linda Rothrock were in Hershey and the Bethlehem Press will have a lot more coverage of the Hawks title in the March 29 edition of the Press.