It’s been said that it’s hard to beat a team three times, but Bethlehem Catholic’s girls basketball team put that notion to rest after its 52-41 victory over Parkland in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinal on Jan. 10 at Parkland.

It was the Hawks’ third win against the Trojans this season.

“Coming in as the lower seed, we knew we had to scrap against Parkland, and we all did,” said Becahi guard Ella Bincarosky. “There was a lot of adrenaline, a lot of nervousness, knowing that if we win this game, we could go to the PPL Center, so just thinking about that motivates you to get every loose ball. We both wanted it so bad.”

Parkland led for a quarter and a half until the Hawks went ahead on Kendra Rigo’s 3-pointer. Akasha Santos, Bincarosky, and Mirynet Colon combined for six Becahi points and put the Hawks on top, 26-20 at halftime, but Santos was helped off the court after rolling her ankle, leaving the junior center questionable for the second half.

“Ironically, yesterday, we had a lesson: learning to turn obstacles into opportunities, and here we were at halftime, faced with the obstacle of not having Akasha,” said Becahi coach Jose Medina, “but the other girls used it as an opportunity to rally around one another, rally around her, and give Parkland credit, they tied the game right away.”

Parkland forward Madison Siggins and teammate Talia Zarinskas combined for six straight points to start the third quarter.

Then, Bincarosky drained a 3-pointer after taking an intentional step back behind the arc.

“Kendra gave me the ball, and my first instinct is to get the extra point,” she said. “I knew I had the time to step back and get the 3.”

With 2:41 left in the third quarter, Bincarosky intercepted a Parkland pass, handed it off to Cici Hernandez, then called for the ball back and hit a 3 at the top of the key.

“Kendra tipped the ball, I ended up recovering it, got it to Cici to run the fast break offense, and normally I would go to the corner, but I saw the opening and stopped at the top of the key,” Bincarosky said.

Santos sat out the third quarter, and sophomore Mekhyla Britt filled in the gap along with freshman Aliyah Brame who hit a 3 after a recovered ball by Bincarosky.

“The girls did a great job of responding, and it was a collective response,” Medina said.

Santos returned to the game midway through the fourth quarter.

With 3:34 remaining, Becahi lost possession, but Parkland missed a layup, which would have pulled the Trojans within four points.

“Give credit to Parkland, they got a couple deflections, steals there, but our girls showed their resilience in getting the ball back at one time,” Medina said.

Rigo sank two free throws, Zarinskas and Delaney Chilcote knocked down a 3 apiece, and Hernandez added six points down the stretch.

The Hawks sealed the win on free throws by Hernandez and Colon.

Becahi will move on to an EPC semifinal against Easton.