The Northampton girls basketball team came into Tuesday’s contest with Parkland with a chance to clinch the EPC West and virtually lock up the number two seeds in both the EPC and District XI 6A tournaments with a win. However, the team didn’t score their first basket until five-and-half minutes had elapsed which was a microcosm of the tough shooting game that followed in a 36-29 loss to the Trojans.

Despite trailing 11-4 after the first quarter, the K-Kids clawed back during the second. They only trailed 13-12 with 3:44 left in the half. Neither team was able to score from that point until Zoe Wilkinson hit a buzz-beating three to send the Trojans to the locker room up 16-12.

A Nicole Yellen three-pointer with 1:51 left in the third quarter got Northampton back to within 21-19, but Parkland ended the period on a six-point run to expand the deficit to 27-19 going into the final stanza.

The Kids never got closer than 6 points during the fourth quarter as Parkland went 7 of 9 from the charity stripe to put the game on ice.

Neither team shot very well from beyond the arc, Northampton was 1-10 while the Trojans went 5-17. Parkland had a decided advantage in foul shots going 11-15 compared to the K-Kids only getting 5 attempts, converting 4 of them.

Despite facing a sagging zone defense designed to stop her, Grace Lesko led Northampton with 16 points. Yellen scored 5, Taylor Kranzley had 4, Kylie Gilliard and Maddie Hurst both scored 2.

Head coach Jeff Jacksits assessed his team.

“In the first half we were impatient,” he said. “We were shooting shots we shouldn’t be taking. And they got too many offensive rebounds on us in the first half. That doesn’t usually happen. We just weren’t all there tonight. Give Parkland credit, they played a good game.”

The loss dropped the team’s record to 16-4 with two games left in the regular season. On Friday, they host Whitehall for Senior Night. The Kids knocked off the Zephyrs 50-29 in their first meeting this season. On Monday they go to Allen to face the winless Canaries.

Northampton figures to hold on to the second seed in 6A districts behind only undefeated Easton. In the EPC, the K-Kids are now 12-2 and their seeding could be subject to tiebreakers. Bethlehem Catholic and PM West also only have two losses, so Northampton could end up anywhere from two to four. Regardless of the number, the K-Kids will host a quarterfinal game once the EPC tournament starts on February 11.