This winter, Northampton will be looking to redeem itself from a late-season tumble, and the Kids will have plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Northampton looked to be in line to make a return trip to districts late last year, but they dropped seven of their last eight games, falling out of contention for an East Penn Conference (EPC) playoff spot and a district berth. Their slide left them with an overall 10-12 mark.

Still, head coach Coy Stampone is very optimistic about his team possibilities.

“We’re excited,” said Stampone, who begins his fifth year at the helm. “We have a number of people back and others who can step in to help us. We’re not that big, but we’ll rely on our speed.”

Senior Morgan Heffelfinger, who averaged nearly 11 points per contest, will be back in the middle for the Kids. He is among a core of seniors that includes forward Jahmari Austin and guard Joe Tocci along with junior Aidan Elwood, who returns to the Kids after a year at Allentown Central Catholic. All of them figure to be in the Kids’ starting lineup.

“Morgan (Heffelfinger) will be a force for us,” said Stampone. “Jahmari (Austin) will play the three for us and had a good summer. Joe Tocci spent most of the year on JV last year, but he is ready to step in.

“Aidan (Ellwood) can bring the program to the next level. He sees the court well and can help us get into our transition game. We’re glad to have him back.”

Junior guard Tim Gribb, another transfer from Central Catholic, also will be in the plans. Junior forwards Mike Torres and Cory Weisenberger also will get their share of time and senior forwards Nick Miller and Dylan Baird will be contributors.

The Kids will have depth this winter and their overall game already has produced favorable results in their workouts and scrimmages.

“We have been playing really well,” stated Stampone. “We have been moving the ball well in transition and have been rebounding well. We also shot the ball well during our scrimmages and we were very competitive. We also were able to work on different situations.”

Aside from a solid varsity unit, the Kids anticipate having sturdy freshman and junior varsity units this winter.

“We’ve had great improvement at those levels and we may bring a few freshmen up to the JV team,” said Stampone. “We do have some good players in the system. It will help us in the future.”

For the present, the Kids again will find themselves in an ultracompetitive situation in the Skyline Division of the EPC.

“The division will be tough,” said Stampone. “Emmaus will be there and Whitehall has everybody back. Central Catholic has some outstanding players back and Parkland will be Parkland. Nazareth will be right there, too.

“There are no easy games in our division and we will have our work cut out for us.”

The Kids also will have Allen, Liberty, and Bethlehem Catholic on their schedule as part of the league crossover games and also battle Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg North, and Pocono Mountain East.

Northampton will open their season at home against East Stroudsburg North, Tuesday, Dec. 13 and then meet Emmaus Friday (Dec. 16) and travel to Lehighton the next morning.

“East Stroudsburg North is in a tournament over the weekend and will have played two games already,” said Stampone. “That will be a challenge for us. We then have Emmaus and an afternoon game with Lehighton the next day. It can be a dangerous situation for us and we have to come out strong.”

Still, Stampone wants his team to keep everything in its proper focus.

“We just have to worry about ourselves,” he said. “If we are doing the right things, playing fundamentally sound, and mixing our defenses, we believe we can have a good year.”