For Northampton head boys’ basketball coach Matt Scholl and his Konkrete Kids, it’s all about defense.

Heading into the regular season finale against Freedom Monday, the Kids had won four straight and five of their last six games. They had allowed an average of 45 points per game during the span. (The Kids won 62-54.)

Last season, the Kids finished with an overall 14-8 season mark. They lost in the East Penn Conference (EPC) quarterfinals to Pocono Mountain East and then to Stroudsburg in the opening round of the Class 6A district playoffs.

Scholl will rely on his team’s strength, and look for improvements on the other side of the ball.

“It has been about effort, intensity, and physicality on the defensive end,” stressed Scholl. “Our offense is still a work in progress, but the defense has been much improved. The job isn’t done though.

“We need one more win to finish out the season, and Freedom will be very motivated on Monday because we beat them by a lot earlier this season.”

Scholl has pointed to juniors Brady Simock and Noah Walakovits for their steady contributions. Fellow junior Korbin Sollars and sophomore Ethan Raphun have raised their level of play.

“Brady Simock has been our defensive leader,” said Scholl. “Noah Walakovits will get a lot of credit because he scored the most points, but Brady Simock has been our most important player during our winning streak. Ethan Raphun and Korbin Sollars have also picked up their offensive games and they have been handling the ball incredibly well.”

Sollars believes his club has overcome their inconsistencies and their inexperience.

“This season there has been some ups and downs, but at this point in the season I feel that our team is in a good mindset of wanting to win and end the season off strong,” said Sollars. “The biggest adjustment for me and my teammates has been that we haven’t all played together before at this level, so we’ve had to learn how to trust in each other’s talents and abilities and gel together as a team.”