It was 52 years since Northampton won its last basketball league title - the Lehigh Valley League title in 1973 - but it well worth the wait.

Third-year head coach Matt Scholl believed the script changed for his club when he and the coaching staff firmly defined each player’s responsibility after a 66-50 loss to Easton.

JV head coach Travis Cheek discovered the season-changing solution.

“We had a very difficult practice and afterward went back to my classroom to watch film,” reflected Scholl. “Travis Cheek prepared a highlight film from all of our hustle plays and positive body language early in the season. We went through and highlighted each player and what they were capable of.

“The players really needed that pick up. Coach Cheek deserves all the credit for putting that together. From there, things kicked into gear and we started playing some incredible basketball.”

From there, the Konkrete Kids won their last five regular-season games, and they carried that momentum into the EPC playoffs. The sixth-seed Kids knocked off Allentown Central Catholic, 61-50, and then Liberty, 49-42, before they downed top-seed Pocono Mountain West, 55-54, in overtime for the title.

Scholl also credited assistant coach Phil Hall for his role of substituting players throughout the season. The Kids have typically played with a six- or seven-man rotation.

“Phil Hall handles our subbing, and he has been making all the right moves to get the best lineup and best matchups on the court,” noted Scholl. “The EPC Tournament was an absolute grind but every player on the court rose to the occasion.”

Leading scorer junior Noah Walakovits, who has been averaging just better than 16 points a game and has sunk 39 three-pointers, always believed his team could have a deep run.

“I have complete trust in my teammates to play there hardest at all times of the game so I’ve never sensed any letdown,” stressed Walakovits. “We had a rough patch in the middle of the season, but we overcame that obstacle as a group.

“I would say that losing helped us progress our chemistry as a team on the court. I am very confident in our matchups in the playoffs.”

Scholl cited an easy schedule at the beginning for his team’s fast start. However, he knew there could be some stumbles ahead.

“Maybe we got a little overconfident because we were winning games fairly easy,” reflected Scholl. “The coaching staff was aware of the schedule and tried to express that to the team and I think it led to a little tension with the young group that we have.

“When we got into the more difficult part of our schedule and start losing games, we weren’t ready to handle it. We had a rough 2-3 week stretch where our body language and physicality on the court were really lacking.

“That’s when we decided to change things, and coach Cheek helped us turn it around.”

Gaining the top seed in the upcoming District 11 Class 6A tournament from winning the EPC tournament, the Kids will play Feb. 22 and meet the winner of the Freedom-Nazareth pigtail round Tuesday night.

Scholl will allow his team to enjoy the moment, but he doesn’t want then to get too comfortable.

“We are enjoying a little break, but we will have a tough opponent in the first round of districts in either Freedom or Nazareth,” he said. “We can’t have a letdown because winning the first round of districts gets you three more games. We will continue to work hard at practice and work on our weaknesses.

“This group has been incredibly coachable the last few weeks and they trust each other as much as any group we have ever had. They have a lot of confidence right now.”