It was two seasons since Catasauqua last appeared in a District 11 playoff game. Without the open tournament due to COVID, the Rough Riders wouldn’t have qualified with their 5-10 record.

They entered as the Class 3A sixth seed and faced third-seeded and host Palmerton in the opening round. In the lone regular season meeting between them, Palmerton edged Catasauqua, 68-64, in overtime.

This time around, the anticipated tight battle didn’t materialize.

The Blue Bombers opened the game with a 21-point first quarter and went on to a 67-47 victory, ending the Roughies’ season.

Palmerton’s Kody Kratzer led the way with a game-high 30 points, and teammates Austyn White and Tyler Stuck each added 11.

Derek Troxell paced the Roughies with 25 points.

“No matter what we did, we couldn’t stop him,” said Catasauqua head coach Eric Snyder about Kratzer. “He was dominant.

“They seemed like they didn’t miss, and shot a lot of threes. He (Kratzer) shot well outside against us, and he went inside. He jumps well, and he is a good player on the perimeter.

“We probably should have stayed in a zone. We went man and had trouble with it. We cut the lead to seven at one point, but they quickly got it back to double digits. We missed some easy shots.”

Troxell, a senior who became the 12th boys and 22nd overall player to break the 1,000-point career plateau this winter at Catty, will be among seven seniors leaving the program.

Center Ty Reitz, forwards Carlos Leonore Martinez, Adonys Paulino, and Mason Hess, and guards Cole Schiffer and Luke Colon will graduate. Senior Damian DiPaolo, who was projected as a starter, didn’t come out for the team.

“DiPaolo would have been another scorer and ballhandler for us,” said Snyder. “Cole Schiffer has a nice season for us, and Carlos was tough. He could dribble, shoot, pass, rebound and he was aggressive.

“Ty Reitz was steady and played very well for us down the stretch.”

Snyder, who completed his 39th overall season coaching, will bring back freshman starter Nasir McLean along with sophomore Wyatt Younis and freshman Ina Juica, who both saw time this season. Juniors center Donovan Keys, who missed the season due to an injured knee during football, and Jared Schneck also will be back next season.

“We lose a lot,” offered Snyder. “We’ll see what happens.”

Girls

The girls team struggled with Notre Dame in their opening round contest, falling 59-21.

The top-seed Crusaders only allowed one point to Catty in the first two quarters, that came in the second quarter on a free throw by Delaney Troxell.

Meanwhile, NDGP exploded in the opening quarter for 26 points and went into half time with a 35-1 lead. Grace Medei scored all nine of her points in the opening quarter. Antonia Bates added nine and finished the night at the team’s leading scorer with 13 points.

Catty was led by Lexi Rushatz who scored six. Aidan Gerhard added five and Troxell finished with four points.