There’s an old saying in sports, “It’s hard to beat a team three times in the same season.”

While the truth of the saying is statistically dubious, it did hold true for the Northampton boys basketball team as their season came to an end at the hands of Parkland in the opening round of districts, 56-43.

The Kids had swept the two regular season games from the Trojans, 47-44 and 58-53.

Parkland scored the first six points of the game on its way to building an early, 8-2 lead. Spencer Cole drilled three 3-pointers over the next four minutes to put the Kids up 11-10 with a minute and a half remaining in the first period. The Trojans got a buzzer-beating three to take a 13-11 lead into the second quarter.

Parkland extended its lead by scoring the first seven points once play resumed. NHS finally broke the run at the 4:45 mark and went on a 7-1 run of their own to cut the lead to three. The teams traded baskets over the last two minutes of the quarter and the Trojans took a 26-23 lead into halftime.

Neither team was able to make any significant run in the third quarter. Parkland had the better of it, despite their poor free throw shooting, and were able eke out 12-9 advantage in the quarter. The Kids trailed 38-32 going into the final quarter.

Northampton went scoreless for the first three minutes of the fourth period. A pair of Cole free throws were all they could muster as Parkland built a 46-34 lead. Donte Rodriguez then keyed a seven-point outburst over the next 40 seconds that got the Kids right back in the game. Unfortunately, the Kids’ shooters went cold over the last four minutes and the Trojans put the game away at the charity stripe.

Cole led Northampton with 13 points. Zac Gula scored 12, Rodriguez had 10, and Tyrese Brandon netted 6.

Head coach Coy Stampone remarked after the game, “I’m proud of these kids and that’s what I told them. No one expected us to be in this situation. Of course you want to win, but I was happy with the way the team fought right to the very end and all season. They (Parkland) got hot from three and stayed hot, unlike in our previous game.”

Although the season ended on a down note, the future looks bright for the Kids. They only had two seniors on this year’s squad and will be returning their top-four scorers.