NHS boys to play meaningful games down the final stretch
For the Northampton boys’ basketball, it is now about the final two weeks. Finding some consistency certainly will help.
The Kids will have five of their final six games against divisional opponents in the East Penn Conference, and they are two wins away from clinching a district berth with an overall 9-6 record.
Northampton has split its last four games, the latest a 56-52 loss to East Stroudsburg South.
“These are two big weeks for us,” said Northampton head coach Coy Stampone. “We just have been very inconsistent all season.
“But we are still in the running for the league playoffs. We can look great against one team and then struggle against another.”
Yet, the Kids are fulfilling one of their goals for the season over the final stretch. Northampton has Whitehall Tuesday followed by their senior night against Emmaus Friday.
The Kids then will finish the season with three of their final four games on the road (Blue Mountain, Nazareth and Allentown Central Catholic) around a home game against Parkland.
“We’ll be playing meaningful games, and that’s what we wanted,” added Stampone. “Whitehall is our another Cement Belt challenge game and they are playing well. Emmaus is our senior night and we know we’ll be in for a battle.
“We just have to take one game at a time. We can play with any team and it again has been a tough league. It has been up and down all season with every team.
“It will be a fight for us and some other teams for district berths. We need two to clinch and we would want to have some momentum going into districts.”
Stampone believes his veteran club led by eight seniors can find their touch down the stretch even though they haven’t reached their full potential.
“They’re frustrated,” said Stampone about his seniors. “They all know what they can do. But they have come to practice every day and worked hard. They all have managed to stay upbeat.
“We have the potential to finish the season on a high note.”