Before the season, Catasauqua head boys’ basketball Eric Snyder knew he has a young club that could take some time to mature.

Consequently, Catasauqua head girls’ basketball coach Mark Seremula believed his club would be a district playoff team this winter.

As both teams head into the end of the year break, they both are headed in expected directions. The Rough Riders’ boys’ team has a 1-7 record overall, while the Roughies’ girls’ squad is 5-3 overall.

Snyder’s group is coming off a hard-fought, 59-49 loss to Palmerton, which was their sixth straight defeat, while Seremula’s unit dropped a 46-41 decision to Northwestern and a 46-36 game to Palmerton, both expected to contend for the league title.

Snyder saw the opening losses to both Salisbury, Bangor, and Panther Valley as difference makers.

“Right now, we are struggling,” said the veteran head coach. “Of course if we could’ve gotten Salisbury and Bangor when we were up by six in both games, things may have been different.

“If we could have held onto those games and finish the games, we would have developed the habit of winning games, close games. We were never in the Panther Valley game. They just came out and destroyed us.”

Snyder is hoping to have leading scorer Frankie Pujols, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, as well as Matt Fotta, who is battling a respiratory illness, back in the lineup soon. The Roughies again are plagued with size and depth issues.

“We are very limited in size because we only have two players over six-foot with Fotta and Jeremiah Cofie,” noted Snyder. “We have limited depth size and experience wise.

“But the kids play hard and aggressively. We know we can play with teams. We have to change things around after Christmas and start to win some close games. We will have our full array of players.

Seremula’s team has been paced by Hailey Jenkins, who has averaged better than 20 points per contests. Seniors Delaney Troxell, Cora Soltis, Alivia Bear, Sophia Becker, Heaven Jenkins, and Rhianna Martinez have formed a solid supporting and contributing core.

For the Lady Roughies, it will be a matter of closing the door, which they couldn’t do against Northwestern and Palmerton. Seremula is confident that they can have a solid second half.

“We got off to a great start playing with a lot of confidence,” he stated. “We had a few defensive lapses and gave the confidence. Give them credit or making a bunch of jump shots.

“We are looking forward to the rest of the season, and the opportunity to play some teams again and for the first time It’s great to be in games with these top teams, and now we want to win them.

“These young ladies will come back refreshed with the goals of qualifying for the league and district playoffs ahead of them.”