For its first two games of the 2017-18 regular season, the Northampton boys basketball team had to play without its leading scorer from last year, Aidan Ellwood. But luckily for the Kids, they won both and saw the senior return for their third game.

But a fourth quarter surge by Emmaus and a cold-shooting final frame from Northampton resulted in a 53-47 defeat to the Green Hornets last Friday night at Northampton High School.

The Kids opened the game fast and shot the ball well from the floor. Although for the first two quarters, the score went back-and-forth, the shooting from beyond the three-point line is what kept Northampton hot and out in front.

“The way that our team is shaped this year, outside shooting is one of our strengths,” said head coach Coy Stampone. “Aidan returning to the lineup after injury is really important for us. With him back, we have a lot of different players who can shoot and score the basketball on any given night.”

Facing their biggest deficit of the game (seven points) early in the fourth quarter, the Green Hornets relied on its inside scoring prowess, and an improved eight-minute frame at the free-throw line in climbing back and coming out on top.

Junior Zach Sabol finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with 15 rebounds. His play in the second half, and in the fourth quarter in particular fueled the Green Hornets offense. Sabol scored 14-of-his-20 points in the second half, eight of which came in the final quarter.

“Their big guy (Sabol) was a force in the paint,” Stampone said. “He was hard to guard, and we just didn’t really have anybody that could cover him. We played the 2-3 zone for most of the game, but it didn’t seem to help as much as we had hoped.”

Ellwood ended with 15 points, but 10 of which came in the first quarter. The next three quarters, Emmaus switched their man defense to have junior guard Devon Boyko following him around the court.

Emmaus (2-1 overall, 1-1 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference) led for much of the first half, but trailed 22-20 at halftime in a somewhat sluggish half for both teams.

The Kids used three 3-pointers in the third quarter to take as much as a seven-point advantage. Cory Weisenberger (16 points) connected on two 3-pointers and Zach Gula (11) had the other.

But where they struggled in the third quarter, going 1-of-4 from the free-throw line, the Green Hornets excelled, shooting 9-for-15, which helped them climb all the way back for the victory.

Northampton (3-1, 1-1) won its next game the following day against Lehighton.