It was almost the perfect storm.

The Northampton girls basketball team battled rust, illness, and a red-hot shooting performance by Whitehall, but the K-Kids hung on for a 52-47 victory on Jan. 9.

Victoria Keenan scored 21 points and Jenna Rogers added 20 to lead Northampton. The two teams combined to make 14 3-pointers in the game, with Keenan sinking five.

Head Coach Jeff Jacksits was unsure of how his team would start the game. The K-Kids had a full week off since their last game, and some of his players were still recovering from illness dating back to the holiday break.

Northampton jumped out to a double-digit first quarter lead, but Whitehall stormed back in the second quarter to take a 29-25 lead at halftime.

“I thought we’d be a little rusty, or at least well-rested anyway,” Jacksits said. “The first half we started out alright, but that second quarter was horrible.”

Northampton opened the second half on a 15-2 run, but Whitehall never went away. The Zephyrs had the ball down three points with under a minute remaining, but failed to get off a tying shot. Rogers put the game away at the free throw line with under ten seconds remaining.

Grace Clary led a balanced Whitehall attack with 14 points. Ariana Hines and Alix Buskirk each added nine.

Five Zephrys made a 3-pointer in the contest. In their previous four Skyline Division contests this season, Whitehall averaged 25.8 points per game.

“Give Whitehall credit, they shot the lights out,” Jacksits said.

The K-Kids will enter a tough stretch on the schedule with back-to-back-to-back road games at Pocono Mountain West, Stroudsburg and Central Catholic. Those teams are a combined 12-4 in the East Penn Conference this season.