Bethlehem Catholic’s Taliyah Medina could tell her team was ready for its No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup with Easton.
“All of us were in the locker room dancing, cheering and getting hyped,” the freshman said. “So, I knew all of us really wanted this game.”
That energy was evident by the way the top-ranked Golden Hawks controlled the action in their 56-37 victory over the Red Rovers on Friday night at Easton Area Middle School.
Bethlehem Catholic (18-2 overall, 14-0 EPC) was up 13-10 after the first period before Medina knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Golden Hawks rolling in the second quarter.
The 6-foot guard ended a scramble for a loose ball with another 3 to give Bethlehem Catholic a 25-14 advantage with 3:50 remaining before halftime. The Golden Hawks led by double figures the rest of the way.
Medina scored 11 of her 21 points in the second quarter and went 8-for-14 from the field. The guard said that knocking down her jump shots helped her lock in defensively.
“It’s like a burst of energy when you’re tired,” she said about connecting from long distance.
The freshman has wreaked havoc on the Red Rovers (17-3, 12-2) in their two meetings this season. She also scored 21 points, her season and (obviously) career high, in a 65-47 victory over Easton in December.
She’s proven to be a handful because she can shoot over the top of smaller guards and can often get around bigger forwards.
“She can shoot and she’s tall. She’s a tough matchup,” Easton coach Dave Lutz said. “If you put someone tall outside, she’s a little bit quicker. She took our guards inside and she does a really good job posting up.”
Becahi coach Jose Medina, Taliyah’s father, credited the older players on the floor for supporting the freshman and giving her a boost if her mindset wavers.
“Her teammates do a great job,” he said. “You can’t come out here and shoot the ball by yourself. Her teammates do a great job of seeing her, believing in her, and she does the same thing for them.”
It’s also helped that, as Jose Medina puts it, Becahi has “a lot of moving parts,” meaning that Taliyah isn’t the only first-year contributor on the team – there are also transfers Hope Brown and Neila Luma, who had to blend together with the rest of the Hawks’ cast.
“She’s played in big games on the AAU circuit,” Jose Medina said. “She’s working hard. But at the end of the day, the team around her has really embraced her.”
The result has the Hawks alone atop the EPC standings with a week to play.
Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KyleCraigSports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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