It’s district championship week and Liberty and Bethlehem Catholic both hope they’re playing for their respective titles when finals in both classes are set for Thursday evening.

Liberty swept Nazareth in their district opener and then took on Southern Lehigh in Tuesday’s semifinal round.

Head coach Connor Swigart realizes his team will face a challenge against the Spartans, who are always a formidable opponent at this point of the season.

“Southern Lehigh is a well coached team and they’ve done a great job with them this year in getting them ready for playoffs,” Swigart said. “They are a young, energetic, athletic team that give all they have each time they step onto the court. They will be a great test for us and our energy as a team, and I’m sure they will have a few tricks up their sleeve to give us a different look from when we played them earlier this year.”

The Hurricanes (21-1) swept the Spartans (15-3) in their Sept 20 encounter, but should get a better effort from the Colonial League champs this time around, with the results of that contest past Press deadlines.

Either way, Liberty will be favored to move forward with a possible rematch against top-seeded Parkland in the 4A championship, which is something they’ll look forward to, after the Trojans defeated them in the EPC title game.

Parkland comes into the tournament ranked second in the state and Liberty is ranked fifth. With only one team moving onto the state tournament, Thursday night could the final night of the season for one of the state’s top teams.

“It was certainly a reality check for us,” Swigart said of the Parkland loss. “We took it on the chin against Parkland and have been working to mitigate the areas they were able to capitalize on. We have been doing the detailed work that is required for you to win big matches at this point in the season.

“The biggest thing we are preaching is believing in themselves and emptying the tank. Districts are win or go home so we have to leave it all out there every game and let the chips fall where they may. We can only control so much but a team that truly believes in themselves is a really hard team to beat. Lean on each other, go out there and give all that you have each match.”

Bethlehem Catholic (14-5) took on Pocono Mountain East (17-5) in yesterday’s 3A semifinals. Becahi swept North Schuylkill in the opening round of the tournament and will need to get past the Cardinals for a likely rematch with Central Catholic in Thursday’s championship round. The Vikings beat Becahi in five games earlier this season.

The Hawks are looking for their third straight district title in the process.