Bethlehem Catholic’s girls basketball team prides itself on taking on the toughest competition in order to improve their game, and on Dec. 21, the Golden Hawks hosted PIAA Class 4A state champion Lansdale Catholic.

“If we played to our potential, it would’ve been a competitive game. We pretty much struggled tonight. I think if we played them tomorrow, we’d be able to compete a lot better,” said Becahi coach Arnold Alleyne after the 60-23 loss.

Becahi guard Leah Ault got the Hawks’ offense started with a 3-pointer at the 3:15 mark of the first quarter, and in the final two minutes, Daviana Jones, Cici Hernandez, and Ault combined for seven points.

But Lansdale Catholic’s Grace McDonough proved to be tough to handle in the paint, and the 6’2 forward tallied 15 points in the first half.

“We knew she was tough, and we knew to stay connected to her, but she has great size, and she’s talented,” Alleyne said. “We took her away, but then the 3-point shooter started taking off.”

Lansdale Catholic’s Olivia Boccella seemingly came out of nowhere to drain six 3-pointers in the third quarter while the Hawks were held to three points in total.

“The third quarter’s always been a struggle for us, and we had to try and work through that,” said Alleyne. “I think, as the season goes on, we’ll get better, and we’ll learn from it. We struggled tonight, but that doesn’t show the team we are. Getting punched like this is good for us. I’d prefer to get punched now than come playoff time. I think this, right here, is going to help us.”

Becahi guard Ella Bincarosky opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for the Hawks, but Lansdale Catholic continued to widen the gap.

“This game doesn’t determine what type of team we are,” said Alleyne. “We didn’t have it tonight, so we’ll fix it in practice and be ready to go.”