For those who thought the Northampton girls basketball team might be a year away from competing for another District XI 6A title, it’s time to start referring to the team as the “Defending District XI Champions.”

Despite losing two of the programs all-time greats, Victoria Keenan and Jenna Rogers, to graduation and fielding a team with no seniors, the K-Kids have already punched their ticket to the tournament by virtue of their 11th win of the season in a 44-20 blowout of East Stroudsburg North on Saturday.

The score was 16-4 after the first quarter, 25-15 at the half, 41-20 after the third period.

Morgan Sterner led the team with 16 points. Kylie Gilliard had 11. Taylor Kranzley added 9. Devyn Demchak and Grace Lesko had 4 points each.

The win over ESN came just over 16 hours after a comeback win over a tough Easton squad on Friday night.

The Rovers are the only team to have beaten Nazareth this year and they held a 21-16 lead over Northampton at the half.

The K-Kids dominated the third quarter, outscoring Easton 17-5 during the 8-minute stretch to take a 33-26 advantage into the final period.

They held on to claim the win 43-40.

Demchak led all scorers with 15 points. Gilliard scored 11. Sterner had 10. Kranzley chipped in 4 and Lesko had the remaining 3.

Northampton’s next two opponents don’t figure to slow the team down in their pursuit of district and league seeding. On Friday, they travel to East Stroudsburg South to take on the Cavaliers. ESS is currently 4-9 on the season. On Tuesday, Whitehall comes to town to try to claim a Cement Belt Challenge point. The Kids beat the Zephyrs 47-29 on Dec. 10. Whitehall is 5-10 this season.