Experience is something that is always valuable, so Bethlehem Catholic is enjoying the roller coaster of the postseason.

While the Hawks lost to Central Catholic 65-50 over the weekend in the District 11 4A championship, they still get to practice this week and get ready for the state tournament when they host District 2 third-place qualifier Greater Nanticoke Friday at 7 p.m.

The opportunity to keep the season alive is something that head coach Scott McClary knows will benefit his young squad moving forward.

“Well, more than half the high school teams in Pennsylvania stopped playing and practicing after Feb. 6,” McClary said. “We know that we will play at least through this weekend, so that is five extra weeks to be together, practice, build skills and gain many big game moments throughout league, district and state playoffs. So I would say it is a huge advantage versus those teams that did not get to experience that.”

Lessons from the Central loss won’t be hard to find, especially with the amount of turnovers the Hawks (17-8) committed in a championship game.

“We had 17 turnovers and starting with the last 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter through the first half of the 3rd quarter, we allowed them some easy transition baskets and then we panicked a bit offensively,” McClary said. “Once we got in a hole, we chased them a bit and they were able to get and snake open shots in the 3rd quarter three point explosion.”

With the game tied at 24 at halftime, Central outscored Becahi 26-12 in the third quarter to open up the game. Alex Cercado and Marcus Drysdale led the Hawks with 18 points apiece, as they now set their sights on Greater Nanticoke (17-9).

“They will be a great challenge,” said McClary on Friday’s opponent. “They are athletic, have a really good big man, and will change defenses on you. They are in constant attack mode on offense with some balance to them. Hopefully every experience helps these guys grow. Lessons don’t happen automatically, we have to keep getting better intentionally through all of the ups and the downs.”

Freedom was the second-seed in the District 11 6A bracket, but couldn’t muster a win to advance to the state tournament, as the Pates were bounced from the consolation round Saturday following a 77-66 defeat to top-seeded Emmaus.

With the Green Hornets losing to Liberty in the semis and Freedom falling to eventual district champion Parkland in the semis too, it pitted the top two-seeds in the consolation round for the final spot in the PIAA tournament.

“We ran into a very hot Parkland team that was playing at a high level,” said head coach Joe Stellato. “We did not play the best game and at that moment you have to be playing your best. In leagues we lost to the league champion and in districts we lost to the district champion. We just never had all five guys playing at their best at the same time.”

The Pates finished the season 15-10, but saw senior Nick Ellis become the school’s all-time leading scorer in the Emmaus loss with his 22-point effort.

Ellis finishes his career with 1,239 points and also is the school’s all-time leading rebounder with 653.

“Winning 15 games is not easy in this league,” Stellato said. “We did not accomplish the goal of winning a championship, but we had a very successful season with a lot of high accomplishments. The seniors started for three years and although they left without accomplishing the ultimate goal of winning a championship, they grew as individuals and as a team. We had some big wins and put the team in the best position to compete for a championship.”