Keyara Walters’ clutch three pointer with 1:13 left in the East Penn Conference girls basketball quarterfinal was all but indicative of the outcome between Bethlehem Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic last Friday night when the Golden Hawks did, in fact, top the Vikettes, 34-28, at Central’s Rockne Hall.

“I was open and they kicked it out,” said a beaming Walters, who had 10 points. “I do that shot a lot in practice so it was easy to knock it down in the game. I felt relief and that we were up by enough that we could hold it down for the rest of the game.”

Although the Hawks led 24-17 at the end of the third quarter, the Vikettes went on a run to tie the game at 24 apiece, and Becahi coach Jose Medina called a timeout.

“I’ll tell you what, on Wednesday, we took the girls out to the movie theater and went to see the movie, ‘American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story.’ What a great time that was for us to bond together as a team. One of the quotes in there said, ‘Underdogs control their destiny.’ And we talked about that with our girls tonight. They loved the movie, but more importantly, they came out here and did a great job.”

With the score still tied at 2:14, Becahi’s Cydney Stanton rebounded a missed shot by Central, and teammate Cici Hernandez gave the Hawks a two-point lead.

“We studied all their stuff. We did our scouting report. That’s what we do here. We play defense. We don’t go for every steal but we like to play smart. We like to get in their heads and I think we accomplished that today,” Stanton said. “I know everybody did their individual homework, and we knew who we were playing against. I think coming out of halftime, our head was more in it. Our defense was a lot more solid and we stopped drives to the rim, we watched their cutting, so I think that was the turning point.”

Both teams entered their locker rooms with an 11-11 tie at the half.

“Credit to our defense that kept us in the game. They did a great job of buying-in at practice, and I’m very excited for them,” said Coach Medina. “This is the time that we’re playing for, and credit to these kids. The first quarter was tough but we came in with the mindset we’re gonna do some good things here, and I’m so very proud of these guys tonight.”

Becahi forward Kendra Rigo opened and closed the third quarter with a bucket, the latter right before the buzzer, and had two more points in between. Two of those baskets were on passes from Hernandez. And when Rigo was injured on a shooting foul, Ella Bincarosky stepped in and landed both free throws for the Hawks.

Another Becahi forward, Akasha Santos, who had eight points for the Hawks and saved a Vikette basket with a block right before halftime, injured her ankle and was replaced by Yarian Fernandez for a short time in the third.

“Once we started using all our strengths, it all turned because we all bring something different. We got to Kendra. She was able to see the floor. We trusted each other, especially in the second half,” said Hernandez. “I’m super excited, I can tell you that. I know how hard my team works, how much my coaches put into it, so getting to this point, I’m not satisfied, but I am happy.”

The Hawks advanced to the EPC girls basketball semifinal against Easton at the PPL Center on Tuesday night, past Press deadlines.