After a stretch that saw them play five games in seven days, the Whitehall girls basketball team capped their early season odyssey with a hard fought win over East Stroudsburg North on Tuesday evening.

That stretch added a few miles onto the odometers of their school buses with consecutive road trips to Hazelton, Stroudsburg and Pine Grove, where they emerged from that excursion with a 2-1 record. Toss in Tuesday night’s 36-31 win over the Timberwolves and their opening win over Northwestern Lehigh and the Zephs are 5-1.

That is music to head coach Dwight Repsher’s ears.

“I’ll take it,” he said after the win against ESN in which they had to hang on until the final buzzer.

Tuesday’s win came down to the wire as Whitehall had to fight off a comeback bid by the T-wolves to earn their fifth win of the season. The Zephs led most of the game, but ESN eventually tied the game 41-41 with 4:19 remaining in the final quarter.

That’s when Taylor Rummel hit the biggest shot of the game, sinking a three-pointer to put the Zephs ahead 34-31, a lead they would never relinquish despite a good look from beyond the arc by Nakia Rogers who hit the back of the rim with just under 10 seconds left.

Ivanna Jones then iced it at the line to seal the win.

It was the lowest point total for the season so far for the Zephs, and some of that may have been due to being down a player which hampered their normal rotation. With Ariana Hines missing, Ivanna Jones had to play some at the five, a position she never played, and Rummel had to move to the four.

Repsher insisted that wasn’t an excuse for their sluggish offensive performance, especially in the first half when they went five minutes during the second period without scoring a bucket. They just didn’t execute as well as they had in their prior games.

Still, they found a way to win. When they needed a bucket, Jill Rex was money from the baseline, finishing with six points, while Taylor George’s penetration led to three trips to the foul line where she went 5-for-6, finishing with 10 points to lead the Zephs.

Additionally, when they needed a key rebound Jones was there to snag it, or Kylee Cunningham was coming up with a steal to prevent a T-wolves fast break.

“We let them hang around for a long, long time, but they played hard and got the job done,” said Repsher.

The stretch featured quality wins, both inside and outside the conference. In fact, Repsher indicated before the season that the beginning of their schedule was going to test their fortitude, and they passed with flying colors.

“We absolutely played well over that period,” said Repsher.

Their lone loss came against Hazleton, who sank 16 three-pointers en route to the 72-46 win. Repsher said they climbed back to tie the game at 26 midway through the second, but after expending all that energy, they couldn’t counter the Cougars’ sharpshooting from beyond the arc.

“They really shot the lights out,” said Repsher. “That happens sometimes.”

They bounced back last Friday and played their best game of the season, defeating Stroudsburg 60-32.

“We really played well at Stroudsburg,” Repsher said. “We had nine threes. I mean, we really played well.”

Jones led the Zephs with 17 points. Rumble knocked down 12, while George finished with 11.

Now they have a couple of days off until they meet Allentown Central Catholic, a team that’s currently 4-1.