At 7:22 p.m. Saturday, Northampton’s boys’ basketball team turned the town on its ear.

It was then that the seventh-seeded Konkrete Kids recorded one their biggest, recent upsets in their program when they dumped second-seeded Liberty, 52-44, in a Class 6A quarterfinal contest at Easton Area Middle School.

As a result, they reached an immediate goal of having a minimum of three more games in their season.

From the opening tap, the Kids grinded it out all night with a patient offense and a supportive defense that slowed Liberty’s usual swift and physical attack. After some initial tightness, the Kids didn’t show any signs of a 19-day layoff from the last game, a regular-season ending victory over Allentown Central Catholic.

Northampton trailed 21-20 at the half, but they led 32-30 after three quarters.

“It was a game of runs,” said Kids’ head coach Coy Stampone about the game. “We knew they had four of five guys who could shoot the three and we worked on our defense all week.

“We couldn’t stop them on the offensive boards (Liberty had 19 offensive rebounds) and we made our share of unforced turnovers.”

Senior Dante Rodriguez was the recipient of a methodical offensive attack, as the senior scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, most of them on driving layups. Sophomore Isiah Harris added 10 points, Spencer Cole had nine, and Zach Gula chipped in with eight.

Liberty pulled to within 43-41 with just under two minutes to go, but the Kids sealed the game with a 9-4 run, five points from the foul line.

Heading into the semifinals, Rodriguez was averaging 12.6 points per game; Harris, 12.5, and Gula, 11.3.

“I felt really good coming into the second half,” stressed Rodriguez. “We were down by one (point) and I knew my teammates and me had a lot more left in our game.

“They were going out on our shooters on the outside, and that helped open up the lane for me. I can run with the athletic teams, so it gives me an advantage as being one of the most athletic kids on the court every night.”

Being one of eight seniors – he, Gula, and Cole were on the last state team in 2017-18.

Rodriguez appreciated the opportunity to return to states. Regardless of their outcome against Easton in a district Class 6A semifinal Wednesday, the Kids will play in the PIAA state tournament that will begin March 7.

“It feel good to get back to states and the final four in districts after a rough year last year,” added Rodriguez. “We couldn’t put the pieces together last year. We struggled through a lot of games this year and lost some games we checked off as wins before the season. So it feels good to get to the first round (of states).”

Stampone knew his seniors were determined to get a state berth.

“Dante (Rodriguez), Zach (Gula), and Spencer (Cole) all saw a lot of playing time as sophomores the last time we went to states,” said Stampone. “They told the team it was about getting a win (over Liberty) and then getting at least three more games to play.

“Those guys have set the tone all season, and they don’t want to have this season end anytime soon.”