Catasauqua’s girls basketball team clinched a berth in District XI playoffs with their 40-38 victory over Salisbury on Jan. 27 at Salisbury.

Last week, the Rough Riders hosted Salisbury to a 55-37 victory on Jan. 24 and used their mercy rule 49-27 victory over Palisades on Jan. 22 as an opportunity to expand on their strengths.

“I used the opportunity to try different moves to see where I’m at. It felt really good. My parents came, and I like to make my dad proud,” said Catty center Kaylin Stewart (21 points). “On the double team, I was a little challenged, so I had to maneuver my way a little more, but I feel like I did really good tonight, and I’m just gonna use that and improve on it.”

Catty immediately implemented its full-court press against the Pirates, resulting in a 17-0 shut out to end the first quarter.

“We played this team just a couple weeks ago, and we knew it was something we could do in this game,” said Rough Rider coach Tara Belfield. “The ball handling wasn’t great, so we knew we could put some early pressure on them and get the score up so we could give the other kids an opportunity to play. They all come to practice, and they all work hard, so they all deserve the chance to play when I can.”

Coach Belfield made some substitutions in the second quarter when Stewart sank a jumper from the foul line followed by a layup off a steal. Stewart had two consecutive putbacks before Catty guard Hailey Jenkins’ shot at the buzzer for a 34-5 halftime score.

Jenkins (24 points) and Stewart traded buckets for Catty in the third quarter.

“If we do what we’re supposed to do for our next couple of games, we should absolutely finish above .500 and get into districts and see what happens from there,” Belfield said last week. “When you have Hailey Jenkins on your team, anything’s possible.”

Palisades scored most of its points in the fourth quarter with 13, and Sarina Sankari had 2 points for the Roughs.

“Since we’re a younger team, I feel like we’re gonna make more progress and have more experience with each other instead of having all seniors,” said Stewart.

Catasauqua is scheduled to host Notre Dame East Stroudsburg on Jan. 31 before traveling to Notre Dame Green Pond on Feb. 3. The Rough Riders return home on Feb. 4 to take on Southern Lehigh.