Most longtime Lehigh Valley high school basketball fans will tell you there has been a slow decline in attendance over the past decade or so.

Student sections seem to be shrinking, and bleachers are rarely full at most contests in the area.

You never would have known that last Friday night when the Northampton K-Kids visited Bethlehem Catholic.

Parents, students and supporters packed the Golden Hawks’ north Bethlehem gymnasium for the likely East Penn Conference game of the year. Northampton emerged with a 52-51 win to hand Bethlehem Catholic (12-2, 8-1) its first EPC loss of the season.

With 5.3 seconds remaining and the Golden Hawks leading by a point, Northampton drove the length of the court in three passes, with senior Cory Weisenberger hitting the game-winning layup as time expired.

Weisenberger scored a game-high 22 points for the K-Kids, who won their eighth-straight game.

Becahi led 16-14 after the first quarter, but the Hawks were held scoreless for the first four minutes of the second quarter. Northampton used a 9-0 run to take a 28-22 lead into halftime.

The Golden Hawks opened the second half on 7-0 run to take a one-point lead, but Northampton immediately answered to lead by six after three periods.

Becahi once again opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to take a one-point lead, but the K-Kids had a counterpunch at every turn.

Justin Paz sank two free throws to give the Hawks a one-point lead with under a minute remaining. Northampton’s Aidan Ellwood missed a layup at the other end, but Tyrese Brandon forced a turnover to set up the eventual game-winner with 5.3 seconds remaining.

Ryan Young led the Golden Hawks with 16 points, followed by Paz with ten.

The Golden Hawks have a big week ahead to see where they stack up in the PIAA landscape. Bethlehem Catholic hosts Central Catholic (13-2; No. 10 in 5A last week) on Friday, Jan. 26, then play Archbishop Wood (No. 3 in 5A last week) on Sunday in the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group event.