After graduating 8 seniors last year, it looked like the Northampton boys basketball team might have to go through a rebuilding period. However, at the halfway mark of the season their record stands at 4-1, good for first place in the EPC Northampton County Division.

The K-Kids played back-to-back overtime games against Easton last week, dropping the first by a score of 54-50 before securing a 62-56 victory the next day for Senior Night.

Before the game, the school honored seniors Joe Kerbacher, Brayden Hurst and Stephen Rohl. Kerbacher enjoyed Senior Night despite the limited number of fans due to COVID.

“It sucks not having as many fans,” he said. “But just being able to be out here with my friends and play basketball is a great feeling. Some schools are shut down. As long as I get to come out and play, I’m cool with it.”

The game was tight throughout as Easton led 13-9 after the first quarter and 24-22 at intermission.

Northampton closed out the third quarter on a 7-point run to tie the score at 33-33.

During the fourth quarter neither team led by more than one possession. An Easton three-pointer put the Rovers up by two, 46-44 with 1:10 left in the game. Isaiah Harris scored the tying points by grabbing an offensive rebound and laying the ball back in with 19.7 left on the clock. Easton shot an air ball with 3 seconds left and the clock expired when the referees didn’t notice head coach Coy Stampone calling for a timeout.

In the overtime, the Kids jumped out to a three-point lead before Easton cut it to 1 with 2:05 left. Cooper King shook off a tough shooting day by draining a three from the left corner to put Northampton up by 4. The Rovers cut the margin to 2 with a minute left before the K-Kids iced the game from the free throw line, hitting 8 of 11 down the stretch.

Isaac Harris led all scorers with 28 points. Lucas Lesko added 15. Kerbacher scored 9. King had 5. Steven Vajda hit his only shot, a three. Isaiah Harris’ tying points were his only two of the game.

On Saturday, Lesko had a career-high 26 points in a 59-52 win over Nazareth.

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Following a 2-0 start to the season, the Northampton girls team has dropped three straight. They fell to Easton 39-34 and 48-30. They also lost to Nazareth 70-58.

Next up for the teams will be their contests against Bethlehem Catholic. The girls will be home on Thursday and at Beca on Saturday. The boys will be at the opposite venues on the same days. The Beca girls are 2-4 on the season, having swept Liberty and losing both games to Easton and Nazareth. The Golden Hawks’ boys are 3-3 having split their games with Nazareth and Easton and a pair of non-EPC games.

The boys are scheduled to host Freedom on Monday with the girls traveling to the Patriots. Neither Freedom team has played a game this year due to COVID-19.