The Northampton and Whitehall boys basketball teams faced off for the first time in almost two years when they met in Pete Schneider Gymnasium last Thursday to vie for a Cement Belt point. The K-Kids used 39 combined points from their dynamic duo of Lucas Lesko and Isaac Harris to turn away their EPC West rivals, 55-40.

The Zephyrs scored on their first three possessions to open up a 6-2 lead two minutes into the contest. The next three minutes set the tone for the rest of the game as the K-Kids went on a 12-0 run on their way to staking a 14-10 lead after the first period.

Whitehall’s shooting woes continued into the second quarter as Northampton outscored the visitors 17-6 in the period on their way to a 31-16 halftime advantage. The Zephyrs shot 7 of 26 from the floor in the first half.

Whitehall found their scoring touch in the third quarter as they tallied 20 points. Luke Keppel had 11 of his 13 points in the quarter and a buzz-beating three from Ray Jackson cut the K-Kid’s lead to single digits, 44-36. Lesko kept Northampton on top by notching 10 of his game-high 26 points in the period.

The Konkrete Kids ended any hope of a Zephyr comeback by scoring the first seven points of the fourth quarter. Whitehall shot 1 for 11 from the floor as they were held to 4 points in the period.

Northampton head coach Coy Stampone shared his thoughts.

“Still didn’t put four quarters together,” he said. “I thought we played a pretty good first half. I thought that in the third quarter we came out flat a little bit. Whitehall’s a good team, but that bad stretch bites us like in the Liberty game. We always have that one quarter. We have to find a way to play well for four quarters.”

In addition to Lesko’s 26 points, Northampton’s other scoring came from Isaac Harris with 16, Cooper King 6, Isaiah Harris 3, Caden Reph 3, and Jackson Vajda 2.

Whitehall was led by Keppel with 13 points. Alex Derkits and AJ Hines both scored 6. Tommy Buskirk, Ian Werner, and Damonte Foreman all scored 4. Jackson had 3 points.

Northampton kept their good play going with a win over Pocono Mountain East and a buzzer-beating 73-72 win at Nazareth on Tuesday. They are one win away from clinching a district berth. The Kids are at Allen on Friday, home for Blue Mountain on Saturday and host Emmaus on Tuesday.

The Zephyrs bounced back with wins against East Stroudsburg South and Freedom to bring their record to 6-9. They are at Parkland on Friday and host Allen on Tuesday.