The joyous moments have been few and far between for the Northampton girls basketball team this season, but last Thursday night, they delivered a 46-31 Senior Night win against Pocono Mountain East that sent the hometown fans in Pete Schneider Gymnasium home happy.

The first half was a tough watch. The two teams combined for more turnovers (27) than points (19). Even so, it kept the tension high as each made basket felt like a momentum swing. The K-Kids took an 11-8 lead into halftime.

Northampton found its footing in the second half. They closed the third quarter on a 9-2 run that provided a comfortable 26-15 lead going into the final period.

Fittingly, two seniors led the way after the intermission. Izzy Pecuch and Ro Echevarria had combined for just a single point in the first 16 minutes but finished as the game’s top two scorers with 14 and 11 points respectively.

Pecuch put on positive spin on the team’s progress this year, “I know that we have been struggling and we had a rough spot with a couple of games there, but I think each game we’re learning and getting better and building more as a team. And tonight was especially fun.”

The highlight of the game was Echevarria banking in a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:30 left in the game that kicked off a raucous celebration among her teammates and fellow students in attendance.

“That was awesome,” Pecuch grinned. “We ran that play especially for her. It’s called Ro Bamba. I think that was her first one (three-pointer) on varsity. She’s been practicing it at practice.”

The win snapped a 6-game losing streak for the Kids leaving them at 5-11 for the season and 3-9 in the EPC. They have a difficult schedule down the stretch but have a chance to claim a rivalry win at home on Saturday against 6-11 Whitehall.

Northampton 7-4-15-20 46

PM East 5-3-7-16 31

Northampton scoring: Pecuch 14, Echevarria 11, Reichl 9, Hirschman 7, Luipersbeck 3, Reenock 2