Sometimes, losing in the beginning of the season can pay some dividends.

Northampton’s boys’ basketball responded well after a messy 58-35 loss to Emmaus in the season opener.

Since then, the Konkrete Kids bounced back with victories over Easton (59-26) and Bangor (53-42) to begin the week with a 2-1 slate.

Against Emmaus, Brody Graff and Noah Walkovits each had nine points.

“After the Emmaus game we challenged everyone to be tougher and invest in boxing out and winning the 50/50 balls,” said head coach Matt Scholl about his club. “The players responded, and it helped us get some confidence and get our offense going.”

Against Easton, Scholl stated that is was a great defensive effort from start to finish. Graff led the Kids with 20 points, and J.J. Kolumber added 13.

“We opened up a 12-3 lead, and we never looked back,” he said. “This was a complete reversal from our first game against Emmaus, as we pushed the game into the mercy rule.”

Northampton then maintained its momentum with a Saturday afternoon win at Bangor.

The Kids took a 19-9 lead after one quarter, but the Slaters closed the gap to 31-23 at halftime, From there, the Kids were involved in a hard-fought skirmish until the end. Groff led the Kids with 22 points.

“Bangor battled,” stressed Scholl. “Some of our body language issues emerged and they were able to make a little run on us to keep the game close. Tristen Pinnock settled us on the defensive end during the third quarter which was the difference.”

Scholl is optimistic his club can work toward managing adversity throughout the rest of the season. The Kids traveled to Allentown Central Catholic Tuesday, and they then will host Pleasant Valley Friday.

“A priority going forward will to work on our confidence when things don’t go well,” he added. “There are always highs and lows in a game and we need to learn to manage the lows as much as the highs.”