Bethlehem Catholic's girls basketball team hasn't lost to a local team all season.
That almost changed on Friday night as Easton battled the Golden Hawks down to the wire, losing a 45-40 decision to Bethlehem Catholic in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship game at Freedom High School.
It was the smallest margin of victory for the Golden Hawks this winter. Quite a contrast to Bethlehem Catholic's 18-point and 19-point wins over Easton in the regular season.
"Definitely, definitely," Easton coach Dave Lutz said about being more pleased with this game than the other two Becahi games. "I think one of keys was our quick start. We didn't have to fight from 10 points behind."
In the 65-47 loss at Bethlehem Catholic on Dec. 22, the Red Rovers trailed 35-20 at halftime. In the 56-37 home loss to the Golden Hawks on Feb. 3, Easton was down by 10 points at the half.
Easton was in much better position this time around, trailing by only two points after the first quarter and three at halftime.
The Red Rovers hung tough the entire game, cutting a once seven-point deficit to two points on a basket by senior Gabby Bloshuk with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. A three-point play by senior Olivia George drew the Red Rovers to within three points with 2:55 left. And then a pair of free throws by junior Leanna Deegan with 52 seconds remaining cut Beca's lead to 43-40.
But a late turnover proved costly and the Red Rovers couldn't pull off the upset.
"I've got to give credit to what they do over there at Easton," Bethlehem Catholic coach Jose Medina said. "Coach (Lutz) does a great job. He got them ready to go. Really tested our girls."
Bloshuk scored 13 points for Easton, which fell to 21-4 on the season. Fellow senior Shelby Stocker had nine points on three 3-pointers and Deegan finished with eight in the Easton loss.
Despite Friday night's setback, the Red Rovers aren't done yet this season. They have the District 11 tournament still to come and are hoping to win their first district title since 1999.
"We've always come back after losses. We still have a lot to play for," Lutz said. "We haven't won a district title in a long time either. So, it would be something to still play for and we want to play in states again and go from there."
It also gives Lutz more time to be with this special group of players.
"I'm very happy with them. They're a great group to coach. They really battle and they're great to be around," Lutz said.
Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshFolck. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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