After the downer of the district championship game, the mood in Pete Schneider Gymnasium was in celebration mode after the Northampton girls basketball team beat Garnet Valley, the 8th seed from District I, in the first round of the state playoffs 56-43.

The win also marked the career 300th win for K-Kids’ head coach Jeff Jacksits, who already holds the record for the most wins of any basketball coach in Northampton history for either the boys or the girls teams.

Jacksits expressed satisfaction with the accomplishment and shared credit.

“It’s a validation of a long career,” he said. “With 300 wins you have to have some nice players. We’ve had a nice group of kids as long as I’ve been here. I look and see how many girls who have had 1,000 points and I look at all the girls who went on and got educations. I have coaches who have been with me for years. It’s not all me.”

Grace Lesko had the hot hand in the first half as she scored 17 of her 21 points in the first 16 minutes. The Kids led 20-10 after the first quarter and 35-22 at the intermission.

As the third quarter unfolded, the Northampton faithful started having flashbacks to Friday night as their team turned the ball over 9 times during the period. Despite that, the Jaguars were never able to get closer than 7 points and a clutch 3 from Kylie Gilliard restored the double-digit lead before the period ended, 44-34.

Northampton scored the first four points of the final quarter and cruised home without inducing any more anxiety from the home crowd.

Gilliard, who always seems to play her best in the state-level playoffs, matched Lesko’s 21 points and did so on an efficient 8 of 9 shooting including four threes.

She said, “I was just feeling it tonight, so I kept shooting. Someone has to step up every game and I guess tonight was me.”

On her coach’s 300th win she commented, “We wish we could have gotten it for him with the district championship game, but unfortunately it didn’t happen, so we got today for his birthday.”

On Friday the team will play undefeated Plymouth Whitemarsh in the next round of states. The Colonials were the District 1 champions.