Bethlehem Catholic’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opener pitted the Golden Hawks against city rival Freedom last Tuesday night when Becahi outscored the Patriots, 64-28, at Bethlehem Catholic.

“At the end of the day, anytime you can do that in this league, it says a lot about your girls, your team,” said Becahi head coach Jose Medina. “They’re a good program. For us, we want to continue to build off what we’ve got here. We don’t take any EPC win for granted, and we appreciate them all.”

The Hawks, who scrimmaged against District 12 powerhouse Cardinal O’Hara three days prior, came well-prepared for their night with the Pates, as all 14 Becahi players saw time on the court.

“Our girls have lofty goals. It’s always EPC, districts, and states, so if we have these big-time goals, it’s great to play a big-time team and see where you are,” Medina said. “Our strength, I like to say, is in our numbers. Our girls are well-conditioned, and they put in a lot of work, so let’s go out there and create extra possessions for ourselves, and that’s what we did today.”

Becahi took a 37-20 lead into the halftime locker room where senior guard/forward Yarian Fernandez was mulling over some first-half foul trouble.

“It was stressful,” she said, “but honestly, it’s staying mentally tough. Coach told me when I picked up my third foul it was a hustle play, so I thought I was hustling too much, but really, sometimes calls don’t go your way. I’m a second-half person, so I used that as motivation to bounce back.”

Fernandez scored the first points of the third quarter on a layup off a steal and followed up with a 3-pointer two plays later.

Becahi guard Cici Hernandez led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Fernandez and Ella Bincarosky who had nine points apiece. Akasha Santos added eight points, and Kendra Rigo tallied seven points for the Hawks.

Keturah Stewart led the scoring for Freedom with 12 points, Maliya Gonzalez had nine points and Jordan MacIlroy added four points.

“I told everyone, we’re defending our home court,” said Fernandez. “To us, it’s really important this season, defending where we practice at.”