On a night in which many memories were rekindled, some possible new ones may have been created in the process.

Last Saturday night, Northampton's boys' basketball program dedicated its court to legendary coach Bob Nemeth, who won four league titles, one district championship, and won 196 games in his reign from 1965-76.

While there were plenty in attendance who were able to recall the K-Kids hoops' heydays, the current regime may be taking their initial steps in that direction.

Northampton downed rival Whitehall, 39-34, in a game in which they held the Zephyrs scoreless for more than six minutes in the final quarter, mainly due to their own version of a matchup zone, one that is a trademark of the Zephyrs.

The win - arguably the biggest of the season and one of the biggest in the past three seasons - gave Northampton an overall 6-4 record and evened their mark at 3-3 in the East Penn Conference (EPC) Skyline Division. It also matched the win total of the Kids over the past two seasons combined.

"We came in knowing we could beat them," said A.Q. McNeil, who led the team with 13 points. "We have been playing with more confidence, and this was the type of win that we needed. We needed to beat a team like this to keep this going."

Head coach Coy Stampone normally would cringe with the thought of playing an upper echelon team in the EPC, but he figured it would be time for a different outcome. The Kids earlier had lost to Parkland, 74-36, and to Emmaus, 70-52.

They recently lost to Quakertown in the opening round of the Salisbury tournament, but rebounded to defeat Lincoln Leadership in the consolation.

"It was a big night for us," said Stampone, who is in his third year at the helm. "It was a great effort by the players and my staff. The players followed the game plan and executed it well. We had an extra day of practice since we played Monday at the Quakertown tournament.

"Playing this game on a Saturday gave us three full days of practice and a shootaround to tweak some things offensively and defensively. We played a complete game, limiting turnovers and not allowing Whitehall second-chance points. Whitehall is a well-coached team and we knew this would be a tough one."

The Kids will need four more wins over the next 11 games to reach districts for the first time since the 2009-10 season. They defeated Freedom 58-51 Tuesday night and will meet Dieruff Friday. They will have another key stretch the following week when they will meet Easton and Allentown Central Catholic.

"It was a big win on a nice night honoring coach Nemeth," added Stampone. "We would love to get the program back to the glory days when he coached the Kids."