There was a playoff atmosphere in Pete Schneider Gymnasium Tuesday night as the Konkrete Kids boys basketball team took on once-beaten Nazareth in front of the TV cameras and a large raucous crowd.

Northampton responded by playing perhaps their best half of the season as they doubled up the Blue Eagles 36-18 at the intermission on the way to a convincing 62-45 win.

The K-Kids jumped on Nazareth immediately hitting their first three shots from the floor including treys from Noah Walakovits and Leo Regec, to force the Blue Eagles to take a timeout just two minutes into the game down 8-0.

Defensively, the Kids held Nazareth to 1 of 13 shooting in the first quarter on their way to seizing a 16-4 lead at the first break.

“On Saturday, we lost to Blue Mountain and quit playing defense. They owed us a little bit of defense out there,” stated head coach Matt Scholl. “As for the effort on defense, I thought Jake Raysely was incredible rebounding. I don’t know how many he had, but the way he was going after the ball in the first quarter, that was incredible to see.”

Nazareth made a little bit of a run in the third quarter, scoring 19 points and forcing 5 Kids’ turnovers. It created a little tension in the gym among the home fans, but the Northampton advantage never fell below 8 points.

Offensively, the K-Kids were led by their two senior captains, Noah Walakovits and Brady Simock.

Walakovits scored a game-high 23 points including 15 in the first half. He also eclipsed the 1,000-point scoring mark for his high school career in the game against Blue Mountain on Saturday.

Simock played with his trademark intensity, flying around on defense, but also scored an efficient 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting including a trio of baskets from behind the arc.

“Coming off the loss on Saturday, our intensity was high right from the gun. That was a terrible loss and we know we’re better than that. We’ve got to prove to these teams that we belong in the top three,” explained Simock.

About the environment in their home gym he gushed, “Oh my God, this is awesome. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this. This might be the most people I’ve ever seen in the crowd before.”

At the halfway point of the season, the K-Kids are 9-2 overall, 7-1 in the EPC, and sitting alone atop the Northampton division.

Kids 62, Eagles 45

NHS 16 20 13 13 - 62

Naz 4 14 19 8 - 45

Northampton scoring: Walakovits 23, Simock 17, Regec 12, Raphun 6, Sollars 4

Northampton shooting: 3pt 7-12; 2pt 18-28; FT 5-8