Can the upcoming Northampton-Whitehall boys’ basketball game have the making of a neighborhood rivalry?

The top-seeded Konkrete Kids and fourth-seeded Zephyrs met Wednesday at Liberty for the District II Class 6A semifinal. The game was after Press deadlines.

Northampton was seeking its first title since 1973, while Whitehall was gunning for its first crown since 2005.

There is also some more intensity involved between the two teams separated by the Cementon Bridge, as they annually compete in the Cement Belt Challenge. In their lone regular-season meeting, Whitehall posted a 61-45 victory.

“I would say there is a little bit of a rivalry between us,” said Northampton junior Noah Walakovits. “They beat us pretty bad earlier in the year, so we are definitely looking to get our revenge. We are looking to keep our momentum and hot streak going into this game.

“I see them as a tough team that has a great offense.”

Northampton head coach Matt Scholl also sees a game that will be a bit more heightened.

“We are familiar with Whitehall and a lot of our guys know their players,” said Scholl. “We are close with their coaching staff. We do compete against Whitehall for the Cement Belt Challenge each year, but I don’t think our players necessarily see a game against Whitehall any differently than a game against Nazareth or even Pocono Mountain West. With the world today and social media, players have friends on a lot of teams.”

Whitehall Seth Hoderewski expects to see some sparks fly.

“Yeah there’s definitely a rivalry between Northampton and us,” said Hoderewski. “We saw them earlier in the year and handled it pretty easily.

“But Northampton is playing some good basketball right now. Northampton is solid but we believe in districts every team is good and we all start at the same record 0-0. We feel ready to face our rival in the semifinal and test ourselves.”

Zephyrs’ head coach Jeff Jones doesn’t see an intense matchup.

“I don’t sense a rivalry, just a game between neighbors that means a trip to a district final,” said Jones. “We are playing well at this time and will need that to continue to have more success. We are looking forward to the challenge of the district games and then playing in the state tournament.”

Scholl likes the current state of his club that has developed a solid rotation.

“We are clicking right now on both ends,” noted Scholl. “It always starts with defense but we are running our offensive sets well and shooting the ball at a very high percentage.

“Ethan Raphun has been hard to guard in the open court. Leo Regec is shooting lights out. Korbin Sollars has been battling the bigs for every team and giving us some great shooting too. Brady Simock and Jake Raysely are the anchors of our defense, but both can knock down open shots and both see the court very well, making big passes on offense.

“Noah Walakovits has been incredibly impressive. He is doing what is necessary every game. He doesn’t force shots and he trusts that the team success is more important than any individual accolades. As rough as it was for a stretching early January, we are really playing at a high level.”

Jones also sees a tight game ahead.

“They are playing very well,” said Jones about Northampton. “They share the ball and run their offense effectively. When they are open they shoot threes from every position. They play the match on defense which we are obviously familiar with.

“We are playing well at this time and will need that to continue to have more success. We are looking forward to the challenge of the district games and then playing in the state tournament.”