Catasauqua head girls’ basketball coach Mark Seremula is confident his team is ready to take the next steps in the big picture.

The Rough Riders managed just an overall 5-17 record, but they more than double their two wins from last year.

“We were in games longer and that didn’t happen before,” said Seremula. “We were right there with a lot of teams like Moravian Academy and Northwestern.

“We become better offensively, and we tightened things defensively. We have to find a way to become better scorers.”

One main goal for next season will be to find a complement to leading scorer Lexi Rushatz, who will be a senior and again run the point.

“We need to find someone to step in,” said Seremula. “We need somehow to take some of the load off Lexi (Rushatz).

“It is just a matter of the girls being more consistent.”

The Roughies will lose center Shaziya Roberts and forward Maddie Hicks, both of whom have been mainstays in the program.

“Shaziya (Roberts) had a career-high 15 points against Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg in her final game,” added Seremula. “Maddie (Hicks) also had a big game against them.

“When they both came out of the game, the East Stroudsburg crowd applauded them as well as our crowd. That was great to see and you don’t see that often. It was awesome and that’s what it is supposed to be about.”

Seremula will begin workouts in May and follow with summer leagues. He understands that his players will be involved with spring sports, and also wants to stress fundamentals in the offseason.

“I hope the girls are successful with their spring sports,” said Seremula. “The more they are successful, the better it is for us. I would like to speak some of the coaches to see if we can have a Friday morning scrimmage during the summer.

“We’ll stay with our summer schedule. We would like to play at a higher level during the summer, but we need to work on our skills. We also need everyone to have a ball in their hands as much as they can and not just when we start our workouts.”

Seremula also is optimistic about the program’s junior varsity and middle school teams, both of whom have solid seasons.

His club appears to be on track for a better season ahead next year.

“We doubled our wins this year and our goal will be to get to 10 wins next year,” added Seremula. “We have a good group back, and we can’t lower our expectations.

“We want to continue to make them better players and better persons.”