According to a new book chronicling the history of the Eastern Pennsylvania Interscholastic Basketball League, the forerunner to the current Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, the league’s first championship game ended with a 35-22 Pottsville victory over Pottstown.

The year was 1926.

While it wasn’t a championship game, Northampton and Liberty turned back the clock 100 years on Monday night in their EPC semifinal at Allentown’s PPL Center.

And in so doing, the Konkrete Kids and Hurricanes had many local basketball fans wanting to turn the clock forward to the 2028-29 season when the PIAA will begin using 35-second shot clocks at all varsity games.

In the lowest scoring game in the 12-season history of the 18-team EPC, Northampton beat Liberty 34-25 in the first game of a semifinal doubleheader.

The second-seeded Konkrete Kids (20-4) will go for their second straight EPC championship at 8 p.m. Thursday back at PPL Center where they will meet Parkland (19-5). The Trojans punched their ticket with a 51-46 victory over Nazareth.

"Northampton's Northampton’s Jake Raysely (10) celebrates a shot against Liberty during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal basketball game on Monday, Feb. 09, 2026, at the PPL Center in Allentown. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)

DONNA FISHER / THE MORNING CALL

Both teams were patient on offense, primarily due to quality defense – Northampton’s matchup zone and a switching man-to-man by Liberty. The unique shooting backdrop of an arena after having played in gyms all season contributed to scoring struggles.

It was 2-2 after one quarter as the teams combined to make just two of 16 shot attempts. It was 12-8 Konkrete Kids at halftime and a 3-pointer by Korbin Sollars at the third-quarter buzzer gave Northampton a 22-18 lead entering the final period. Liberty fans thought Sollars’ shot came a tick after the buzzer.

“It was close, but I thought I got it off just before [the horn],” Sollars said.

Sollars’ trey – one of just five in the game – seemed to fire up Liberty.

"Northampton's Northampton’s basketball coach Matthew Scholl watches his team against Liberty during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal basketball game on Monday, Feb. 09, 2026, at the PPL Center in Allentown. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)

EMILY PAINE / THE MORNING CALL

The Hurricanes outscored the K-Kids 7-2 over the first 3 minutes of the final period and took a 25-24 lead on a Quin Lucas-Bishop spin in the lane with 5:17 remaining.

But sixth-seeded Liberty, coming off an upset quarterfinal-round win over Pocono Mountain West, wouldn’t score again. Northampton closed out its third win of the season over the Hurricanes and won its fifth straight EPC tournament victory with a 10-0 run.

Brady Simock went backdoor and scored off a Noah Walakovits pass to give the K-Kids the lead with 3:09 left and Walakovits then made a layup off a Jake Raysely pass to make it 28-25 with 2:02 to go, and Northampton put the game away by going 6-for-6 at the foul line in the final minute. The Kids made 10 of 11 free throws overall.

“We knew this was going to be a battle no matter what the score was,” Sollars said. “On defense, we just tried to keep them from getting to the spots that they like to get to, because if they do, they’ll hit shots. We just try to keep them out of the paint and the shooters off their spots.”

Liberty (15-9) made just 9 of 30 shots from the field and went 4-for-8 from the foul line in registering their lowest point total in any game in this, and many, seasons. It was also Northampton’s lowest total since a 66-33 loss to Parkland in last year’s District 11 6A final and was similar to the style of its 35-22 loss to the Hurricanes in December of 2024.

"Liberty's Liberty’s Luke Heffernan (4) plays defense against Northampton during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal basketball game on Monday, Feb. 09, 2026, at the PPL Center in Allentown. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)

CESAR L. LAURE / TMC

“That was Liberty; that wasn’t us,” said Kids coach Matt Scholl. “That’s a credit to them. We don’t want to play that way. I played enough that way when I was at Whitehall.  We want to get out and score points. We got guys who can shoot, but they came out with an incredible defensive plan. At halftime, we just said we’re going to embrace it and said ‘if that’s the way they want to play, then we’re going to value the possessions.’ We’re going to wait to get good shots.”

Leo Regec and Simock led the way with eight points apiece. Walakovits, who was voted first-team all-league on Sunday, had a season-low four points.

But he impacted the game in other ways with three steals, three assists and five rebounds.

“He’s not going to force shots,” Scholl said of Walakovits. “Sometimes we want him to, but he didn’t need to tonight. He trusts the other guys.”

"Northampton's Northampton’s Leo Regec (4) shoots the ball against Liberty during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal basketball game on Monday, Feb. 09, 2026, at the PPL Center in Allentown. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)

HARRY FISHER / THE MORNING CALL

“I shot a couple of 3s and they didn’t fall, so I knew I had to impact the game in other ways with defense and rebounding,” Walakovits said. “We didn’t think it was going to be this low-scoring, but we knew it was going to be a defensive game. We just had to focus on their sets and playing good defense.”

Liberty’s Jake Pukszyn, another first-team all-league selection, was held to single digits for the second time this season by Northampton. He had just two points in a 41-30 loss on Jan. 23. Dylan Bilger and Lucas-Bishop led the Hurricanes with seven points apiece.

Walakovits, Regec, Simock and Sollars are seniors and could stamp their legacy as being keys to one of the greatest eras of Kids’ basketball with a win on Thursday night.

“We have chemistry,” Sollars said. “We all hang around each other outside of basketball and we trust each other. We know each other’s capabilities. It has been a fun and very special couple of years.”

"Northampton's Northampton’s gets ready to play during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal basketball game on Monday, Feb. 09, 2026, at the PPL Center in Allentown. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)

Michael Kubel / TMC

Northampton 34, Liberty 25

Liberty 2 – 6 – 10 – 7 — 25

Northampton 9 – 2 – 11 – 12 — 34

LIBERTY (25) 

Heffernan 0-3 0-0 0, Pukszyn 1-7 2-4 4, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Teague 1-7 0-0 2, Bilger 2-5 1-2 7, Lucas-Bishop 3-3 1-2 7, Kashner 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 9-30 4-8 25.

NORTHAMPTON (34) 

Walakovits 1-8 2-3 4, Regec 2-5 3-3 8, Raphun 2-3 0-0 4, Raysely 1-1 1-1 3, Simock 2-5 4-4 8, Sollars 3-4 0-0 7. Totals 11-26 10-11 34.

3-pointers: Liberty (3-14) Bilger 2, Kashner. Northampton (2-8) Regec, Sollars.

Rebounds: Liberty 19 (Pukszyn 6). Northampton 20 (Regec 5).

Assists: Liberty 5. Northampton 7 (Walakovits 3).

Turnovers: Liberty 7, Northampton 8.

Officials: Norris Bullock, Jimmy Hahn, Chris Pincin.

 

 

 

 

 

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