Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball toppled in 1st round of PIAA tournament

By Corky Blake on 3/9/22

 

 

A projected two-hour bus ride that lasted three hours.

 

Only one senior who plays meaningful minutes.

 

Playing in a gym adorned with multiple banners celebrating one of the state’s most successful girls basketball programs.

 

From the jump, Greencastle-Antrim refused to be intimidated when it met District 11 and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champion Bethlehem Catholic on Wednesday night in the PIAA Class 5A first round.

 

The Blue Devils, the fifth-place team from District 3, never trailed and turned away a late Golden Hawks’ rally to emerge with a 46-42 victory that sends them into the Round of 16 on Saturday against Cardinal O’Hara.

 

“Give Greencastle-Antrim credit. Their two guards controlled the game,” Bethlehem Catholic coach Jose Medina said. “They did a great job of playing fast and making us make mistakes. They used their defense to jump-start their offense.”

 

Haley Noblit, a 5-foot-2 sophomore, and Mia Libby, a 5-1 junior, were the ringleaders of the Blue Devils’ disruption. Both are outstanding soccer players who thrive on competition.

 

“We get off the bus and we don’t scare anyone,” said G-A 11th-year coach Mike Rhine. “Haley set the tone for us, and Mia wrapped it up at the end, but it was a total team effort.”

 

Noblit scored nine of her 18 points in the first quarter to vault her team to an 11-5 lead. Twice she gashed Becahi’s defense for left-handed layups, went to the foul line twice and then drilled a 25-foot 3-pointer.

 

“She’s tough,” Medina said of Noblit. “We haven’t played anyone (this season) with her quickness. The first half we let her get to the basket.”

 

 

Meanwhile, Medina searched for a workable combination that could slow the Blue Devils (22-4) defensively but also find a way to score points at the other end of the court.

 

Stephanie Donato’s 3-pointer and Yarian Fernandez’s fastbreak layup midway through the second quarter kept the Golden Hawks within striking distance. Libby, though, converted a steal into a layup to maintain G-A’s lead at six, 19-13, at intermission.

 

By then, Becahi had just one more point than turnovers.

 

“They did a great job dictating tempo early on and that’s disappointing as a coach and we have to take ownership of that,” Medina said. “Coming in, we haven’t been shooting the ball well lately, and there was a carryover of that tonight.”

 

 

The Golden Hawks, to their credit, fought through their frustrations and closed to within a point on three occasions in the final 2:31 of the third quarter.

 

When Libby’s free throw extended G-A’s lead to 40-35 with 2:45 remaining, Becahi retaliated with five straight points on Fernandez’s layup – off a pass from Cydney Stanton – and Cici Hernandez’s 3-pointer with 1:59 left.

 

“We had to scratch and claw; that’s the way we play,” Medina said.

 

The Blue Devils worked nearly a minute off the clock before Becahi reserve sophomore guard Mirynet Colon forced a jump ball with G-A senior center Lauren Pool. With the possession arrow in the Hawks’ favor, they could now play for the winning basket.

 

Becahi made only two passes before Libby jumped a dribble handoff and converted the steal into a 42-40 lead with 49 seconds left. She missed the ensuing free throw leaving the Hawks with the option to tie or go ahead.

 

Neither occurred.

 

Becahi missed an open layup. Rylee Henson – another of G-A’s soccer players – pulled in the rebound, was fouled and made both to bump the advantage to 44-40 with 13 seconds showing and deal the Golden Hawks their first defeat in the opening round of the state tournament after 16 wins.

 

“We just didn’t get over the hump,” Medina said. “We had the great defensive possession and didn’t execute and gave the ball right back to them.”

 

The loss dropped Becahi to 19-8 and ended the stellar careers of its four seniors – Kiki Walters, Stanton, Donato and Kourtney Wilson, who missed the season with a knee injury.

 

“I’m so appreciative of the four years they gave us. They’re a special group of girls,” Medina said. “Their first year with us we won the state championship in 2019. They’re going through a lot of emotions right now.”

 

Fernandez came off the bench to lead the Hawks with 11 points. Stanton added nine, and Hernandez and Donato contributed eight apiece.

 

Noblit was backed by Pool’s 11 and Libby’s 10 as the trio combined for 39 of G-A’s 46 points.