Coy Stampone admittedly isn't a patient person.

A former high school athlete, Stampone is a highly competitive person who hates to lose. He also doesn't appreciate any series of moral victories.

As the head boys' coach at Northampton, however, Stampone realizes there is a process his program must endure to transform the Konkrete Kids into solid contenders.

"It is one of my negatives trying to be a patient person," said the second-year head coach. "I have always played to win and I want my team to follow that path. But this will take time and it won't be accomplished overnight.

"We had a good summer and we have some good things in place. We have been competing in games, but we have to learn how to win."

Through their first two games, the Kids were arguably within striking distance of their opponents, but they dropped games to both Allen and Whitehall.

Their season-opener against Pleasant Valley was rescheduled to a January date.

So far, it has been working to take advantage of their situations. They suffered a 57-44 defeat to Allen, and a 47-41 loss to Whitehall.

"Against Allen, we just had too many turnovers," stated Stampone. "We also shot poorly from the free-throw line (8-for-18). You can't do those things against a team like Allen and expect to win.

"In our game against Whitehall, we had a nine-point lead in the third quarter, and six-point lead at the end of the third quarter. I told them that this was a game they could work to pull out.

"But we had some crucial turnovers and they exploded for a big quarter."

Stampone had lauded his team for their execution through their first two games, as he has started one senior, three juniors, and a sophomore on his team that basically lacks a horde of varsity experience. Senior post player Piefka Stonewall has been the Kids' leading scorer.

Still, the effervescent coach remains optimistic.

"We have had a lot of positives this year," said Stampone. "We need to work to change the culture of the program. "We have been putting players on the floor who don't have a lot of varsity quarters behind them.

"Our freshman and JV teams have been doing well, and we have three freshmen playing on the JV team. We will have a lot to look forward to in the future."

Stampone's club will face some more tests this week when they will tangle with Parkland and Nazareth. They then travel across the bridge with a pre-Christmas tussle with Catasauqua before they will meet Blue Mountain and Salisbury before the new year.

"We have a busy couple of weeks ahead, and we don't get too many breaks after that," said Stampone. "We need to keep fighting and look to finish a game to get us over the top."