“That was the best game we played all year,” said a Central Catholic player talking to his father as they walked to their car in the Northampton High School parking lot on Tuesday night.

The Kids’ and the Vikings’ boys teams entered the game with identical 9-6 records, but Central dominated both ends of the floor on the way to a 61-46 win.

The Vikings scored off the opening tip, six seconds into game. They eventually built a 21-8 first quarter lead before a Zach Gula buzzer-beating three cut the margin to 10 as the period ended.

The Northampton defense was able to force four steals in the second quarter to slow down the Central offense. However, the Kids didn’t hit their first shot from the floor until the three-minute mark. A late Isaac Harris three provided half of Northampton’s points in the period as a 10-6 margin extended the Vikings’ lead to 31-17 at the half.

After an early 8-3 Central run to start the second half, the teams exchanged two-point field goals for the rest of the quarter. The Vikings were able to add three to their lead after the 14-11 period to make the score 45-28 through three quarters.

Northampton scored the first five points of the final period and then answered a four-point Central run with a six-point run of their own. Spencer Cole capped the run with a three with 5:05 left in the game to cut the deficit to 10. The Kids would get no closer than that and would have to fight another day to get their 10th win of the season.

Gula led the team with 15 points on a very efficient shooting night. He was 2-for-2 from the line, 2-for-2 from inside the arc, and 3-for-5 from deep. Harris dropped in eight points, Tyler Gilliard had seven points, Cole finished with six, and Donte Rodriguez with five.

Head coach Coy Stampone reflected on the loss.

“We dug ourselves a hole and we couldn’t get out of it,” he said. “The kids played hard. We’ll see, we’ve got to come up with two wins somewhere (to qualify for districts).”

Northampton’s next game will be a road game at Emmaus on Friday night. The Green Hornets currently sit atop the District XI 6A power rankings and defeated the Kids 60-48 in December. On Saturday, Northampton goes outside the EPC to host Blue Mountain in a 1 p.m. start. The Eagles are 14-2 on the season and hold down the #2 spot in the 5A power rankings. On Tuesday night, Whitehall visits Northampton looking for revenge for the Kids’ 60-58 season-opening three-overtime win.