After getting four wins in the opening part of the season, Northampton's boys' basketball team will look to continue to climb the ladder toward the postseason.

Along with registering some wins, the Kids will strive to further enhance their new growing reputation from a pretender to a contender in the East Penn Conference.

The K-Kids raised their record at 5-4 with a 45-34 win over Lincoln Leadership in the consolation final after they dropped a 64-50 decision to Quakertown in the opening round of the Salisbury Holiday Basketball Tournament last weekend.

Aidan Elwood led the Kids with 15 points against Quakertown, Garrett Oplinger had 13, and Morgan Heffelfinger chipped in with 11. Quakertown had a 33-26 lead at halftime in a tight game, and they continued to build on their lead over the final two quarters.

Against Lincoln Leadership, A.Q. McNeil led the team with 17 points and Oplinger had 11.

Oplinger was named to the All-Tournament team, and the JVs won the tournament at Salisbury.

Northampton head coach Coy Stampone figured his team would have been in the hunt.

"Quakertown is well-coached team and they are a hard-nosed team." said Stampone. "We had the height advantage, but they were physical and shot the ball well.

"In the first half, we had a difficult time finding their shooters and contesting shots. They had five three (pointers) in the first half. We had a good scouting report on them and we just fell short on our execution.

"We had an ugly win (over Lincoln Leadership), but it was a needed win for us."

The Kids will have their first opportunity to improve their stance in the league when they hostWhitehall Saturday night, as Northampton has been on the heels of Whitehall all season long.

The Whitehall game will mark the first of five consecutive league contests for Northampton.

It will also be a special night for the K-Kids as their court will be renamed "Bob Nemeth Court" in pregame ceremonies.

"We're very excited about playing Whitehall and the ceremony," said Stampone. "We know that will be the first game of an important stretch for us. We need to play well and pick up some wins in the process.

"But we will continue to take one game at a time as we work toward districts."

a main goal of making the district playoffs."