Derek Troxell will enter Thursday night’s game with history on his side.

The Catasauqua senior needs 23 points to become the 12th boys’ player and 22nd overall in school history to reach the 1,000-point scoring plateau, and the first Rough Rider to hit the milestone since Isaiah Graves did it during the 2017-18 season. The legendary Larry Miller is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,722 points.

Troxell also was recently named as a First-Team Colonial League all-star selection, picked by the coaches.

However, he and his teammates also will be involved in another historical moment - they will be the first basketball team to play a regular-season doubleheader.

Due to the combination of snow storms and COVID issues, the Rough Riders will host a basketball twin bill, beginning with Palisades at 4:30 and Pen Argyl after the conclusion of the girls’ game that is scheduled to begin at approximately 6 p.m.

“To me, it’s not a big deal,” said Troxell about the doubleheader. “I have played AAU before and have played two games a few hours apart.

“At this point, we’re all happy to play and we’ll handle it.”

Troxell had visions of achieving the mark since his early youth.

“That’s something I have thought about since I was little,” he said. “It has been a dream to have my name on that banner.

“I didn’t think about it in middle school, but once I got to high school, I did. During my freshman and sophomore years, I just wanted to go out there and play.

“After I had a good season my junior year, I looked at my points total and realized it was in reach. I knew I had to do it my senior year.”

He also has been fueled by his father Dave, a Roughies’ player who fell 45 points off the mark.

There is a seemingly mystical uncanny link between the Troxell family and the mark.

“This means a lot to me for his sake,” described Troxell. “He (father) fell just short. My father coached five 1,000-point scorers (Sarah Onkotz (1,010), Tara Gemmel (1,496), Brittany Lacey (1,483), Steph Remington (1,086), and Ashley Young (1.082). He also was an assistant coach with coach (Eric) Snyder when Tim Superka reached the mark.”

“I played for Matt Morton (1,118), who reached it. Each person has some kind of connection with the mark and our family.”

Dave Troxell further noted that he went to high school with Sheri Bailey (1,265) and Stacy Paukovits (1,628), and Tom Superka (1,115) was his seventh grader math teacher and his coach his senior year.

He added that Donna Kennedy’s (1,963) father Bill Kennedy was the athletic director when she played, and his father, Frank, was the principal at the same time.

Troxell was a volunteer coach when Tim Superka (1,410) and Jerome Maiatico (1,396) played. And Derek played with Graves.

The younger Troxell suffered a shoulder injury in an earlier meeting with Northern Lehigh and missed two-and-a-half games. It was then that his focus shifted back to the milestone.

“I started to think about it because I was told I might be out two or three weeks,” said Troxell, who wears a brace. “But I got an MRI and it was better news.

“I just go out and play my game for my team. I’m a team player first. It is about what will work for them.”

Thursday night, though, it will be about him.