Over the past two years, Northampton’s boys’ basketball team had a first-game exit in the Salisbury Holiday Tournament.

However, the third time around truly proved to be the charm.

The Konkrete Kids had a solid all-around effort in downing Quakertown, 63-46, to capture the tournament title.

Aidan Elwood took home the tournament MVP award with 30 points in the finale and Morgan Heffelfinger was named to the All-Tournament team. He paced the Kids with 27 points in the 51-48 win over Saucon Valley in the opening game.

More importantly, the Kids evened their season mark at 3-3 and won their third straight. It could prove to be a springboard for the hectic East Penn Conference (EPC) schedule ahead. The Kids hosted Parkland Tuesday, traveled to Allen Thursday, and will venture across the river for a meeting with Phillipsburg Saturday.

“We finally put together a nice game,” said head coach Coy Stampone. “It wasn’t a complete game, but it was a nice couple of wins. Our defense really came together after the first quarter (against Quakertown), but I wasn’t happy with our first quarter.

“We also have to work on cutting down our turnovers. We had 14 each against Saucon Valley and Quakertown. We can’t have those unforced errors.”

Stampone did credit the play of Jahmari Austin, who had 10 of his 14 points in third quarter against Quakertown.

“Jahmari had a nice tournament for us and he was able to spring us forward,” added Stampone. “We’re looking for another player to be a third scorer for us and he can fill that role. We got everyone in the championship game and got some good playing time for a number of people.”

Stampone likes the current state of his club’s chemistry, considering the team is relatively young.

“We only really have one player with substantial varsity experience,” said Stampone. “Morgan (Heffelfinger) is the only person who has played for us the last couple of seasons. We do have a number of people who primarily played JV last season.

“I am really happy with our chemistry right now.”

Stampone knows his club will be tested this week when they begin a heavy slate of EPC games, one that regularly will feature three a week over the next month. However, he remains confident his club can make districts and also have a run at the league playoffs, their two main goals.

“This is a very good league from top to bottom,” he said. “Our schedule is a little bit tougher. But we have to take the momentum we have and continue to carry it forward. We needed to win one game at the end of our season to make districts and we didn’t. We were there the year before.

“We need to correct some mistakes, but I like the direction we are headed. It will be a fun season.”