Despite his team’s last-season woes, and the thought of missing the postseason, Whitehall senior Seth Hoderewski and his teammates never lost confidence about the season.

Hoderewski, who has been the team’s leading scorer averaging roughly 17 points per game, knew it wouldn’t be a complicated matter.

The Zephyrs battled through some losing streaks during the season, but they posted three impressive wins over Allen (54-37), Allentown Central Catholic (54-48), and Emmaus (51-25) to end the regular season with an 11-11 record and qualify for the district Class 6A playoffs. They also will participate in the East Penn Conference tournament,

“It’s simple,” offered Hoderewski, “these guys never put their heads down. They came to practice every day with a positive attitude whether we were 0-5 or on a 3 game win streak.

“We kept a clean and positive mindset. There’s nothing more exciting than extending the season and being able to compete for a championship.”

Hoderewski believes his teammates’ playoff time will help them. The Zephyrs advanced into the state playoffs last season.

“We have guys with experience including myself, Talon (Dogmanits), Cole Richards, Tanner (Dogmanits), and even Jack Lloyd, who all saw playoff time as a freshman.

“We feel we can compete at a high level with anyone.”

Head coach Jeff Jones pointed to their 68-45 victory over Hazleton Dec. 23 as a turning point. At the time, the team had a 2-7 record. They won nine of their next 13 and five of the final regular-season games.

Whitehall last missed the district playoffs in the 2021-22 season,

“In the Hazleton game, we were up 45-23 at the half and then stretched it to 66-33 after three (quarters),” said Jones. “We’ve been playing with a lot of confidence in the second part of the season.

“The kids believe that they can play with anyone at this point in the season. We know we will need to go on the road in the EPC first round game, but we are happy to be in.”