{"id":113039,"date":"2026-02-13T13:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/113039\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:09:07","slug":"easton-girls-basketball-beats-becahi-for-epc-title-with-freshmans-ft-in-final-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/113039\/","title":{"rendered":"Easton girls basketball beats Becahi for EPC title with freshman\u2019s FT in final seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easton Area High School<\/a> freshman guard Eva Jordan<\/a> wasn\u2019t attending kindergarten yet the last time the Red Rovers girls basketball team won an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship. <\/p>\n

But 10 years later with the title in the balance, Jordan connected on the game-winning free throw with three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lift the top-seeded Red Rovers to a 35-34 victory over second-seeded Bethlehem Catholic<\/a> in the EPC final on Thursday night at the PPL Center in Allentown. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was nervous, but I know I put work in on my free throws. In practice, we do a lot of it,\u201d Jordan said. <\/p>\n

It was the first EPC title for the Red Rovers since they beat Parkland 60-47 in the EPC championship game exactly 10 years ago. <\/p>\n

The game ended following a chaotic sequence with five second left in the fourth quarter. The Golden Hawks tied the game 34-34 when senior guard Aliyah Brame scored off an inbound pass from senior guard Kendall Nickischer with five seconds on the clock. Jordan was fouled after the Red Rovers inbounded the ball as it appeared a Bethlehem Catholic player didn\u2019t know the score and thought the Golden Hawks were trailing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI told them don\u2019t blame anyone, stay together as a group and a family and we have a lot of basketball to play,\u201d Bethlehem Catholic coach Arnold Alleyne said. \u201cIf somebody wants to blame someone, I will take the blame because if the score is one or two points, it\u2019s my fault. I\u2019ve got to do more and get us prepared for when the game\u2019s intense.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Jordan missed the first free throw attempt with three seconds on the clock, fellow Red Rovers talked to her and helped her regain composure. Jordan, who scored 15 points in the Red Rovers\u2019 semifinal victory over Parkland on Tuesday night, sunk the second free throw. Brame\u2019s half-court shot bounced off the front of the rim and Easton celebrated the conference championship. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey definitely talked to me, helped me calm myself down and told me I got it. It really helped,\u201d Jordan said. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see after she missed the first one how good her teammates are and you could hear the bench, too, being very positive. Believe it or not, I was really confident she was going to make the second one,\u201d Easton coach Dave Lutz said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think she gets rattled,\u201d the Red Rovers coach added about Jordan. \u201cThe whole season, I don\u2019t think she got rattled. She doesn\u2019t get rattled in practice when our upperclassmen go after her.\u201d <\/p>\n

Red Rovers sophomore guard Melina Cole<\/a> was voted the MVP of the championship game. The sophomore finished the night with 12 points. Cole connected on a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give Easton a 34-30 lead. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot. I put in a lot of work during the summer and it really paid off,\u201d Cole said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love my sister,\u201d Easton senior forward Lianna Cole said about Melina. \u201cShe puts in so much work. Over the summer, she put in so much work. Being able to see her get her name called and have the biggest smile on her face brings me so much joy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Senior guard Nat Amato<\/a> scored all seven of her points in the second quarter for the Red Rovers, who improved to 22-3 on the season. <\/p>\n

Jordan and junior Elena Brunetti each tallied six points on the night for Easton. <\/p>\n

The championship victory was the 400th career win for Lutz, who is in his 13th season leading the program.<\/p>\n

Brame and freshman guard Kamryn Gallis each scored nine points for the Golden Hawks, who fell to 21-4 overall on the season. <\/p>\n

The Red Rovers used an 8-0 run to turn a four-point deficit in the final minute of the third quarter into a 34-30 advantage when Melina Cole made both of her free throws in the final minute of the fourth. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re all so close. We all know what to do with each other,\u201d Melina Cole said. \u201cWe don\u2019t get scared. When we get scared, our teammates are there to help us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Easton junior guard Gabby Wismer made a pair of foul shots with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cut Bethlehem Catholic\u2019s lead to 30-28. Brunetti connected on two foul shots with 6:14 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 30. Then, Jordan broke a scoring drought for both teams that lasted more than four minutes by collecting a terrific pass from senior forward Lianna Cole and recording an inside field goal to give the Red Rovers a 32-30 advantage with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n

\u201cLia is a really good passer, so she can make any pass,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cGabby set a really good screen for me, so I came off the screen. I was open and Lia made a good pass.\u201d <\/p>\n

Following Melina Cole\u2019s two free throws with 37 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that pushed the Easton lead to 34-30, Bethlehem Catholic senior forward Brooklyn Lewis answered a pair of free throws 11 seconds later to trim the Red Rovers\u2019 advantage to two points. <\/p>\n

The Red Rovers held the Golden Hawks to four points in the fourth quarter with Beca getting that scoring in the final 30 seconds. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe just kept our poise, worked together, communicated and played our hardest,\u201d Amato said of the team\u2019s strong defense. <\/p>\n

Easton took a 20-18 lead into halftime on back-to-back baskets by Amato. The senior guard tied the score with a drive to the hoop with 2:13 remaining in the second quarter. Amato then recorded a steal off an inbound pass and converted a layup 11 seconds later to make it a two-point advantage for the Red Rovers at the break.<\/p>\n

Melina Cole connected on a 3-pointer 34 seconds into the third quarter and then the sophomore guard drove to the basket with 6:51 left in the third to increase Easton\u2019s lead to 25-18. It completed a 9-0 run for the Red Rovers that spanned both the second and third quarters. <\/p>\n

Bethlehem Catholic answered with its own 9-0 run and took a 30-26 lead on a baseline jumper by Gallis with 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Golden Hawks freshman guard scored five of the nine points in the run. <\/p>\n

An Amato 3-pointer with 6:44 left in the second quarter gave Easton a 13-12 lead, the Red Rovers\u2019 first advantage of the game. <\/p>\n

The EPC championship celebration at the PPL Center was something the Red Rovers desired for a number of years following recent disappointment in the tournament. <\/p>\n

Thursday night marked the program\u2019s first conference championship game since 2023 when Easton lost to Allentown Central Catholic 52-49 in overtime. The Red Rovers also lost at the PPL Center in the conference semifinals against Parkland in 2024 (41-28 loss) and against Bethlehem Catholic in 2022 (45-40 loss). <\/p>\n

The PPL Center was the site of glory for Easton this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely special. Coming up short the past three years, especially my freshman year, overtime to Central, it really hit deep,\u201d Lianna Cole said. \u201cThen, last year losing to them (Bethlehem Catholic in the quarterfinals) and not even making it here, it was really our way to show how much we\u2019ve improved since last year and just throughout the entire season. Being able to bring home the gold and the trophy is just really special.\u201d <\/p>\n

Seniors Lianna Cole, Nat Amato, Ava Muhammad and Armoni Dowe put in plenty of work and experienced so much success throughout their Red Rovers careers. On Thursday night at the PPL Center, they got a chance to celebrate the championship that took them four years to capture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been involved in a lot of wins. I\u2019m glad they got this championship,\u201d Lutz said of the senior class. \u201cThey were freshmen when we won our district championship. The seniors\u2019 names are on this. It starts with them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Easton Area High School freshman guard Eva Jordan wasn\u2019t attending kindergarten yet the last time the Red Rovers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-113039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}