With the holiday break in the rear view, area basketball teams are now gearing up for the second half of the season.

Unfortunately, the holidays didn’t bring a winning formula for the Bethlehem teams.

Liberty, Bethlehem Catholic and Freedom went a combined 1-4 last week, but that doesn’t mean lessons can’t be learned in defeat.

Liberty dropped both of their contests at Allen, falling to the Canaries 48-44 and Hazleton 47-43.

The narrow defeats showed the ‘Canes (5-3) still have plenty to work on.

“We were disappointed that we finished 0-2, however, there was plenty for us to build off,” said Liberty head coach Nigel Long. “We have to improve our free throw shooting as a team. That is an area of opportunity for growth. We must also continue to grow in our defensive principles as well.”

The overtime defeat to Allen was one Long hopes the team doesn’t repeat, as they blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead and were held scoreless in the overtime period.

Liberty opens the week with another difficult test against Parkland (5-3) on Tuesday, followed by Pocono Mountain East (1-4) on Friday and Whitehall (3-5) on Saturday.

“Parkland will be a great test for us,” Long said. “They are one of the top teams in our league and in the state. Along with Nick Coval, they have a ton of skilled players who compliment him well. They are also very well coached by Andy Stephens. Confidence comes from preparation. We have to continue to attack each day and build off the foundation that we have created thus far into the season.”

Bethlehem Catholic (3-2) played their first game in nearly two weeks in their 79-62 loss to Dallas last week. The Hawks have a three-game slate this week with Northampton (4-3), East Stroudsburg North (2-5) and Pocono Mountain East (1-4).

After dropping their first three games of the season, Freedom has now won two of their last three games, splitting their holiday contests.

The Pates (2-4) lost to Nativity BVM 72-71 last week, picked up an easy 74-33 win over Mahanoy Area.

Freedom has Bangor (1-5) on tap early this week followed by two touch EPC contests with Emmaus (9-0) on Tuesday and Pocono Mountain West (4-2) on Friday.