A disappointing season for the Northampton girls basketball team continued Monday night as they played a solid first half against Emmaus, but struggled with turnovers in the second half and lost to the Hornets 50-39.

“We played one good half, but you have to play two to win in this league,” explained head coach Jeff Jacksits. “Five turnovers in the first half, 16 in the second half. If we don’t turn the ball over, we’re decent. We can play with these teams. When we turn it over, they get into panic mode.”

Anne Beenders scored 11 of her game-high 15 points in the first half as the K-Kids built a 24-21 lead by halftime.

Despite Northampton turning the ball over 7 times in the third quarter, Emmaus was not able to run away with the contest due to shooting 3 for 12 from the floor. The Hornets did take advantage of their opportunities at the foul line as they made 4 in row to retake the lead.

Kylie Eberts hit a three-pointer to bring the Kids even at 29-all with 1:33 left in the third period, but that was the last time Northampton held a share of the lead. Emmaus scored the last three points of the quarter to take a 32-29 advantage into the fourth.

The Hornets scored two quick baskets to start the final period and the K-Kids were never able to get their deficit under five points after that. Emmaus iced the game by scoring their final 8 points from the charity stripe.

Jenna Raysely scored 8 points. Rachel Yost had 5. Dalani Petties and Isabella Pecuch both scored 4. Petties led the team in rebounds with 8.

Gabby Devita led Emmaus with 14 points and Sylvia Sokolofski had a career-high 12, including 11 in the fourth quarter for the Hornets.

Northampton’s record is 4-13 overall, 3-8 in the EPC. They travel to Central on Friday and host once-beaten Parkland on Tuesday. They finish the season with two games against Allen and a game versus Whitehall. Both of those teams currently only have 6 wins each, so there will be opportunities for the Kids to end the year on a positive note and perhaps build some momentum for the offseason.