The Northampton girls basketball team got off to a rocky start this season. Their 61-25 opening loss to Easton was mainly due to turnovers (26), but the Rovers are always a tough matchup due to their size. Things figured to go a bit better for the K-Kids last Thursday as Dieruff came to town in a battle between the two EPC teams that switched divisions.

Once again, the Kids’ offense struggled as they went long stretches without scoring as the Huskies cruised to a 42-28 win.

Northampton led 5-2 with 4:48 left in the first, but then didn’t score for almost six and a half minutes during a 16-0 Dieruff run. The Kids outscored the Huskies 6-2 over the final 4 minutes of the second quarter and when into the intermission down a manageable 21-14.

After a third quarter that saw both teams notch eight points, the game was still within reach at 29-22.

However, Dieruff outscored the K-Kids 13-1 over the first 6:46 of the final period to pull away and lock down the win.

“We’re throwing passes that shouldn’t be thrown. Tonight, we just weren’t hungry to grab the ball. Everything gets knocked out of our hands. We can’t grab them securely. So many chances for little shots and layups and none of them went in. I don’t know what was going on,” lamented head coach Jeff Jacksits.

Defensively, Northampton struggled to contain Dieruff center Justyce McChristian who used her size advantage to score inside on her way to a game-high 14 points.

Anne Beenders led the K-Kids with 11 points. Jenna Raysley was close behind with 10. Ro Echevarria had 6 and Isabella Pecuch scored 1.

Normally, games against Dieruff are expected wins, but there is a chance that the Huskies are actually good, sporting a 4-1 record with only a loss to Central as a negative on their early season resume.

The K-Kids bounced back from their 0-2 start to pick up wins against Bangor on Saturday 60-43 and East Stroudsburg North on Tuesday 59-23 to even their record at 2-2.

This week, the team is on the road with games at Liberty on Friday and at Parkland on Monday.