Northampton’s boys’ basketball team is taking a new approach this summer. In fact, the Konkrete Kids will have a new look on the floor, too.

Kids’ head coach Matt Scholl indicated his squad is not participating in the Lehigh Valley High School Summer Basketball League this summer. Instead, they are working on their team on two fronts.

The Kids lost four senior starters from a team that captured the East Penn Conference (EPC) championship, its first league title in 52 years with a 52-49 victory over rival Parkland. However, the Kids’ season ended abruptly when they were upset by Pocono Mountain East, 37-24, in the first round of districts.

Scholl, who is entering his fifth season at the helm, is confident in his team’s new strategy.

“We aren’t doing summer league this summer, and we have been in the gym working on getting stronger and building chemistry,” stressed Scholl. “We have a lot of multisport athletes so we haven’t had our full squad together at all yet. The guys who have been attending are working hard.”

Scholl is looking to rising senior Ethan Raphun and junior Jake Raysely to help lead the transition. He also is optimistic about his JV players from last season who will be moving up.

“We’ll be relying on Ethan Raphun and Jake Raysely who were both in the rotation the last two years,” said Scholl. “After that, we need guys to step up and be consistent to earn their spots.

“Marcus Ramos and Chase Christman were our top scorers on JV last season so they have a leg up on everyone else but this summer is about competing for a varsity uniform and then competing to get minutes next season.”

The Kids planned camp and tournament play when they anticipate having their squad intact.

“Our plan is to backload things to fall when we have most of our group together,” stated Scholl. “We [attended the] East Stroudsburg University camp as a commuter team, [played Catty in their July 4th celebration], and participating in the A-Town Throwdown.

“We don’t plan on doing any other competitions until the fall though.”