On Tuesday night in Easton, the Northampton girls basketball team weathered a poor-shooting first half to knock off the Red Rovers 55-41. The win is the Kids’ eighth in row, bringing their season record to 13-2.

While the team shot a respectable 9-of-20 from inside the arc in the first half, they were 0-of-10 from three-point range, leading to a 24-21 halftime deficit.

At halftime, head coach Jeff Jacksits made some adjustments.

“I told them, ‘We’re not making shots out there, let’s try and drive the ball more and get some easier shots,’” Jacksits said. “We played more at their pace in the first half. Twenty-one points is a quarter for us, not a half. We picked up the pace and forced some turnovers that led to easy baskets.”

Three of those turnovers were steals in Easton’s frontcourt by Victoria Keenan that she converted into layups at the other end. The Kids scored the first six points of the third quarter to seize the lead. Those points were part of an 18-4 run during the period. The Rovers managed to get the last bucket of the quarter, but Northampton was in command when it ended, 39-30.

Easton was able to get the margin down to six points a couple of times during the fourth quarter, but never closer than that. The Kids scored the final eight points of the game, including 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to close it out.

Morgan Sterner led Northampton with 18 points and also pulled down eight rebounds. Jenna Rogers recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards. Keenan had 13 points to go with five rebounds and four steals. Gabby Demchak had six points and four rebounds. Kylie Gilliard had four points, two rebounds, and two steals.

The Kids clinched a District XI playoff berth when they beat Dieruff 64-26 on Friday. They are still atop the District XI 6A power rankings, just ahead of Nazareth, which is the last team to beat Northampton.

The top of the EPC is tight too. Bethlehem Catholic is undefeated in conference play, while Northampton and Nazareth have a single conference loss each.

Next up for the Kids is a home game against Pocono Mountain West on Friday night. The Panthers come into the contest at 7-6, fresh off a 43-39 win over Central Catholic on Tuesday. Northampton then gets its own shot at Central when they travel to play the Vikettes on Tuesday.

Northampton’s home game against Emmaus on Friday, Jan. 25 is a Coaches vs. Cancer event. There will be T-shirts for sale, raffles, and other charitable opportunities.