Archbishop Wood ends Bethlehem Catholic’s season for third consecutive year

In Bethlehem Catholic coach Arnold Alleyne’s three seasons at the helm, there’s been several constants.

Relentless effort, district championships, and on the flip side, state tournament struggles against Archbishop Wood.

That trend continued as Archbishop Wood raced ahead early and cruised to a 69-32 victory over the Golden Hawks in Saturday afternoon’s PIAA 5A Tournament quarterfinal contest at Pottstown High School. The Vikings, in pursuit of their sixth consecutive state championship appearance and fifth title in that stretch, advance to the semifinal round to play the winner of Lampeter Strasburg and Crestwood on Tuesday night.

“You don’t want to lose to the same team three years in a row, but it just shows that we have to get better,” Alleyne said.

The Golden Hawks fed off their full court press and forced turnovers throughout their run to the state quarterfinal, but the well-rounded, equally physical Vikings protected the ball early and capitalized on nearly every possession to jump ahead to a 24-4 lead just one play into the second quarter.

The District 12 champions didn’t register a turnover until the 2:52 mark in the second quarter, a point where they had already pulled ahead 35-13.

“They ran a good system…the things that they’re running, they aren’t fancy plays,” Alleyne said. “But they pressure you, make you make a mistake and if you fall asleep, they’ll hit you with a back door [cut] and get a wide-open three. Credit to them and their system that they run.”

Becahi’s frustration boiled over into the third quarter as senior guard Leah Ault and Alleyne picked up technical fouls as a 19-6 third quarter ended any hope of a comeback and enacted the mercy rule with the Vikings leading 64-27.

Abbie Kelly showcased a terrific inside scoring ability with a perfect 6-6 shooting performance inside the arc on her way to a team-high 17 points. Ursinus commit and sixth woman Emma Yogis provided the outside scoring with a pair of triples while getting fouled on a third before making all three attempts from the charity stripe.

Makayla Finnegan added two 3-pointers of her own as part of an 11-point afternoon for the Vikings. Nine different players scored in total for the balanced Vikings whose ability to dribble out of Becahi’s pressure and convert open looks led to a similar result in another PIAA Tournament matchup between the two Pennsylvania powers.

Senior guard Aliyah Brame, who will continue her career at Bryant University next season, led the Golden Hawks with nine points in the final game of her high school career.

“Being a Bethlehem Catholic student, and athlete, was one of the hardest, yet most flourishing things I’ve ever gotten in my life so far,” Brame said. “It’s brought me these friendships, and my family, and a lot of people who I’m going to call my sisters for my whole life.

“I give everything to Coach Arnold [Alleyne]. He grew us. He did everything he could, and sometimes you just fall short, but it’ll always be Bethlehem Catholic.”

Brame graduates with four other seniors – Leah Ault, Brooklyn Lewis, Kendall Nickisher and Mariyah Arroyo – who will be difficult for Alleyne to say goodbye to after a tremendous run to an 86-32 record, two EPC championship appearances, four district championships and nine state playoff wins.

“Our seniors are gone now, and that’s one of the hardest parts. The separation is the toughest part,” Alleyne said. “I can take a loss, but not being able to see [them] every day is one of the toughest things. They’ve always battled for me from fall to now, and I credit their obedience and working hard for me. I’m grateful to be around them.

“I’m proud of Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball.”

Derek Bast is a freelance reporter who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.

Archbishop Wood 69, Bethlehem Catholic 32

ARCHBISHOP WOOD (69) 

Kelly 6-7 5-8 17, Yogis 2-4 5-5 11, Finnegan 4-4 1-1 11, McDonald 3-6 0-1 7, C. Thompson 3-3 0-0 6, Payne 2-2 2-2 6, Besachio 2-6 0-0 5, N. Thompson 1-4 0-0 3, Whalen 1-5 1-4 3, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Annulis 0-0 0-0 0, Holst 0-0 0-0 0, Wabs 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-42 14-21 69.

BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC (32) 

Brame 4-8 0-0 9, Ault 3-6 0-1 8, Radande 3-3 0-2 6, Gallis 1-5 3-4 5, Lewis 0-4 2-2 2, Gordon 0-1 1-2 1, Davis 0-0 1-2 1, Nickisher 0-4 0-0 0, Borsuk 0-1 0-0 0, Arroyo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-33 7-13 32.

Archbishop Wood 21 – 24 – 19 – 5 — 69

Bethlehem Catholic 4 – 17 – 6 – 5 — 32

3-pointers: Archbishop Wood (7-19) Finnegan 2, Yogis 2, McDonald, Besachio, N Thompson. Becahi (3-13) Ault 2, Brame.

Rebounds: Archbishop Wood 17. Becahi 12.

Assists: Archbishop Wood 14. Becahi 4.

Turnovers: Archbishop Wood 6. Becahi 13.