Editor’s note: The boys moved on to the EPC finals with a 49-42 win over Liberty and will face Pocono Mt. West. The game was after Press deadlines.

All season long, Northampton’s boys’ basketball team went about its business, mostly in the shadows of Pocono Mountain West, Liberty, and Whitehall in the hunt to be among the best team in the District 11 Class 6A bracket.

In the process, the Konkrete Kids pieced together a 14-8 regular-season record, winning their last five games and six of their last regular-season games. They stormed out to a 4-0 start, but their youth and inexperience began to catch up with them.

Still, the No. 6 Kids showed a sense of resiliency throughout the season. That continued to show in their upset of No. 3 Allentown Central Catholic in the opening round of the East Penn Conference (EPC) tournament.

The Kids were scheduled to meet No. 2 Liberty in an EPC semifinal Tuesday night at Allentown’s PPL Center.

Head coach Matt Scholl has watched his team jell and form a tight bond throughout the season.

“The team is playing very well and has a lot of confidence right now,” beamed Scholl. “The key down the stretch has been attention to detail and resilience on the defensive end.

“The entire team has embraced the offensive scheme, which involves sharing the ball and making the extra pass. Noah Walakovits continues to lead us in scoring but we have six players who are all capable of putting up double digits on any given night.”

Walakovits and is teammates have noticed the difference and elevated their games.

“It feels great to be able to compete with the best teams in the area,” stressed Walakovits. “Our team has improved a significant amount throughout the season. I elevated my game the second half of the season with energy and confidence.”

Scholl has seen the team chemistry quickly evolve.

“Our goal for the season was to qualify for district playoffs and we have done that and more,” said Scholl. “Despite only having two players with any varsity experience coming into the season, we have won 15 games. The group is really close and spend a lot of time hanging together when we aren’t at school and practice.”