The Whitehall Zephyrs concluded their boys basketball season on Tuesday night, hosting Northampton, when the K-Kids claimed a 52-33 victory.

“I thought we competed really well. It’s one of the better teams in the league. They have two special, really good players,” said Whitehall coach Jeff Jones. “We hung with them for the majority of the game. It comes down, sometimes, to having to make plays, and they made more plays than we did.”

Whitehall trailed, 22-18, at halftime after a nice second quarter in which Tommy Buskirk had a hard block at the rim, and on the Zephyrs’ next possession, made a quick pass to Ian Werner who went in for a layup.

Whitehall sophomore Luke Keppel knocked down a three pointer early in the third quarter, and Werner hit a jumper after rebounding a missed three by Alex Derkits.

But the Zephyrs also missed some opportunities on thrown-away passes, and Northampton’s Isaac Harris completed a three-point play, followed by a three pointer and a basket by Lucas Lesko, to put the K-Kids ahead, 38-26, at the end of the third quarter.

As has been Whitehall’s way all season, the Zephyrs came out in the fourth quarter with a vengeance, and Bryce Bashore’s three pointer in the opening seconds gave them hope.

Werner hit another jumper, but with two consecutive buckets by Tristen Pinnock and two more by Harris, the game became out of reach for the Zephs.

“I’m happy with our effort and really happy to have coached this group of seniors. It’s a really good group of kids,” Coach Jones said. “They worked really hard and I think all of them will do well as they get out of school and going to college or work or whatever they’re going to do.”

Those seniors are Buskirk, Bashore, Werner, Derkits, Michael Gallo, Gavin Fasolka, Cassius Watson, Damonte Foreman, and Mario Cabrera.

“Even when we were in a situation where we kind of knew we were probably eliminated from any possibility of making the playoffs, they didn’t waiver at practice,” said Jones. “They came to work every single day, whether it was practice three or practice 41, it didn’t matter. That’s what I’ll take away from this group.”