Bethel’s boys’ basketball team needed a win after a tough loss to league power Miami East last weekend. After a rough first half, they rebounded and picked up their defense en route to a 50-34 win over Covington.
“We didn’t play well to start coming off of that loss the guys were a little flat,” said Bethel coach Eric Glover, as his team was tied 20-20 at halftime. “We played good defense in the second half and pressured them a bit as they turned the ball over.”
“This team has resilience and we talked to them at halftime about how good teams rise to the occasion. I challenged the kids not to lose back to back games, and we wanted to show everyone that the Miami East game wasn’t a fluke.”
Bethel executed their offense better in the second half, taking the lead and maintaining into the fourth quarter.
“Once we got late into the third quarter and fourth, we were playing much better,” Glover said. “Evan Hawthorne played well for us down the stretch and took the game over for us.” Hawthorne scored 10 in the win.
The Covington coach received a technical foul in the third period, and from there Bethel pushed their lead out to 16 and never looked back.
*Prior to the game with Covington, the Bees lost a heartbreaker to Miami East 44-43 in a game Bethel led for most of the game.
“It was really good for the team to play them close, but honestly we felt we could play well against them,” Glover said. “Whether or not we win or not, we wanted them to know they were in a battle. We led most of the game until the last two seconds.
The last minute saw Bethel leading by three with one minute to go, and shooting the one-and-one. After a miss, the Bees stopped the Vikings and got the ball back with 43 seconds left, and missed another free throw.
Miami East hit a three with 13 seconds left to tie the game, and when Caleb South missed a shot in the final seconds, a foul was called on Bethel on the rebound, and East hit a free throw for the win.
“It was inexperience down the stretch, and we needed to hit a free throw to put the game away,” Glover said. “I told the kids I was very proud how hard they worked.”
Bethel is now 11-5, and Bethel returns to action at Ansonia on Friday, at Lehman Saturday and hosts Tri Village on Tuesday.
Bethel Girls Basketball- Bethel put together a solid game for a 53-27 win over Tri County North.
“For the past week and a half, we talked about putting together a complete game,” Bethel coach Mark Mays said. “In this game it showed, we were patient and found the open person. We led 18-7 in the first quarter and never looked back. We had many kids contributing.”
Jillian Callaham led Bethel with 16, Sarah Swisher added 10.
Bethel also lost to National Trail 41-28
The Bees host Twin Valley South on Thursday at 7 p.m.
