The Whitehall boys basketball team will have a good head of steam heading into the district playoffs which will begin next week.

After winning two consecutive games to close out the season, both of which came against teams that had beaten the Zephyrs in their first meeting, head coach Jeff Jones was a bit torn about the prospects of having to shelve his players for a week while they wait for districts.

“It’s kind of unfortunate that we have these two weeks off, we would like to be playing,” said Jones.

While the time off will allow them some additional practice time in the gym, the fact they were playing well at the end of the season had Jones eager to see if they could sustain that momentum.

He said that even in their two losses preceding the Northampton win, the team was headed in the right direction. Both those teams, Parkland and Chester, respectively, are arguably among the top 30 teams in the state and he felt they acquitted themselves well in both contests.

“In the games we lost, I thought we played pretty well,” he said.

As the Zephyrs stared down the Konkrete Kids last week on Northampton’s home floor, they knew they needed to win one of their two remaining games just to qualify for districts. It wasn’t going to be an easy task given their recent history with Northampton holding the 3-1 edge in their last four meetings.

Jones said they got off to a good start as both teams were tied at 13 after the first period. While they played well, they still couldn’t shake the Kids. But that’s when they played perhaps their best quarter of basketball all year, going on to open a huge 15-point lead to take a 32-17 lead into halftime.

“That second quarter we played really well and were able to push ahead,” said Jones.

Jones believed the team was really focused and were looking to secure a berth, sparking that burst in the second quarter. He also said they changed some things they did offensively and that benefitted them as well.

In that win, Charles Hudson led the way with 19 points. Mikey Esquilin dropped 15 and Zach Gilbert chipped in with nine.

In their final game, they were facing Emmaus who were second in the Skyline Division behind Parkland. They were a team that has plenty of experience, especially at the guard position and the Green Hornets were playing for home court heading into the postseason.

But once again the Zephyrs were looking to settle a score, and they had to wait to the waning moments of the overtime to finally take the lead when Jackson Buskirk scored a layup with 1:29 left to lift them past the Green Hornets, 65-58.

Hudson once again paced the team with 16 points, while Buskirk and Esquilin each netted 12. Additionally, Devin Martinez and Logan McGinley each had eight in the winning cause.

Jones said that McGinley has emerged as a leader on this year’s squad. With no senior left on their roster, Jones said that the junior has been “a stabilizing force” for the team.

“He’s been our emotional leader and the glue to our team,” said Jones.

Jones said that McGinley is a high energy player and that’s true in practice as well as games. He busts it on the practice floor, leading by example, and then brings that same work ethic to the games.

“He’s taken on a huge leadership role for us, both in the locker room and off the court as well,” said Jones.

With McGinley leading the charge into the postseason, Jones expects they’ll receive a 10 seed when it all shakes out. Barring any major upsets, he expects them to play either Nazareth or Stroudsburg to open the tourney.