Things didn’t go well for the Catasauqua boys basketball team Saturday afternoon.
Playing without leading scorer and all-area player Frankie Pujols due to an ankle injury, the Rough Riders fell behind 21-6 in the first quarter and couldn’t recover in a 65-47 loss at Northwestern Lehigh in a rematch of last season’s Colonial League championship game.
Both teams played their second game in three days after being the last area teams to play games this season. Mason Bollinger, who was one week removed from playing in the PIAA Class 3A title game for the Tigers’ football team, scored 19 points, 16 in the first half, when Northwestern Lehigh stretched open a 39-17 halftime lead.
While disappointed with the result, veteran Catty coach Eric Snyder wasn’t going to dwell on it. There are more important things in life.
He lost his mother, Janice “Nin” Snyder, on Nov. 26 at the age of 89. Services for Mrs. Snyder are planned for this coming week, and while basketball is important – Snyder is the dean of local coaches in his 34th season and has won 395 games – family has and will always come first.
He said he might not have become a coach without the influence of his mother.
“My mom would be here,” Snyder said. “She went to every game she could. She even went to a couple of home games last year before Christmas, before her health started to go downhill. Then she just couldn’t do it anymore.”
Snyder said his mother spent most of her life in Catty and loved the community. She was part of the town’s fabric.
“She was a great cook, and every Thanksgiving we’d go to the bonfire before the Northampton game, and she’d make homemade bread and cinnamon rolls, and then on Christmas Eve, she had everything going,” Snyder said. “She played tennis, volleyball, basketball, and she was at everything. Back in the 60s, she would bring in kids from Allentown who were poor and underprivileged, Fresh Air kids, and special education kids, and they would play in our backyard. She cared about everybody. She pushed me to start coaching when I was a senior in college. She and Ron Hassler [a former Catty, Whitehall, and Allentown Central Catholic coaching legend] were really close, and they played tennis all the time, and he would always kid with her and get her going.”
Coaching basketball during a time of mourning has been therapeutic for Snyder. It has not only affected him, but also other members of his staff. Snyder’s brother, Marc, is the Catty freshman coach, and his son, James, is an assistant.
Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, there were no games for him and the team until Thursday, when the team finally opened its season with a win over Saucon Valley. Pujols scored 21 points in that game, but was injured in the fourth quarter.
“We don’t know how long he’s going to be out; hopefully not more than a week,” Snyder said. “He could play on Wednesday when we are home against Palmerton. They are going to take him off crutches on Monday and see how it feels. We have Notre Dame on Friday and Wilson on Saturday, so it’s a big week. Without him, you’re putting kids in positions they’re not used to, and they’re nervous. Frankie will be a 1,000-point scorer. He had 21 the other night. That’s hard to replace. It’s not just the points he gives us. It’s the leadership, the intensity. He and Hamaad Jenkins are quite a combo.”
Jenkins led Catty with 18, and Aalani Nix added 17.
Northwestern Lehigh coach Patrick Wanamaker was pleased with how his team responded, even knowing that Catty would be without its best player.
“I heard on Thursday that he had gotten hurt, and then I saw the film of their game,” Wanamaker said. “He’s one of the best players in our league, and I would argue that with anybody. He does a lot for them on both ends of the floor. But with the way we moved the ball today and defended, I think we would have had a really good game even if [Pujols] played. I think we’re going to see Catty again. They’re one of the top three or four teams in the league. A lot can change between now and February. Our eight-team league playoff is going to be really competitive, and any team can come out and win it. So we are going to spend from now until the new year focusing on ourselves and improving every day.”
Northwestern Lehigh 65, Catasauqua 47
Catasauqua 6 – 11 – 15 – 15 — 47
NW Lehigh 21 – 18 – 14 – 12 — 65
CATASAUQUA (47)
Reece Lopez 1 0-0 2, Manny Bolmer 1 0-0 2, Hamaad Jenkins 6 6-10 18, Caiden Weaver 1 0- 5 2, Zayvien Vaz 2 0-0 4, Asael Gonzalez 1 0-0 2, Aalani Nix 7 2-2 17. Totals 18 8-17 47.
NW LEHIGH (65)
Maso Bollnger 7 3-4 19, Michael Lagowy 0 2-2 2, Cannon Fitch 1 5-6 8, Brady Krimmel 4 3-4 11, Harrison Wertman 3 0-0 6, Malachi Coleman 3 0-0 7, Liam Nicolas 1 0-0 2, Braidon Berk 4 0-1 8, Derfon Levano-Iskey 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 13-17 65,
3-pointers: Catty (1) Nix. NWL 4 (Bollinger 2, Fitch, Coleman).
Other Saturday games
Salisbury 65, Lehighton 58: The Falcons (5-0) stayed unbeaten as Steven Lozada and Julian Makhoul scored 19 and 18 points, respectively. Lehighton (3-3) got 18 points from Cole Dietz and 15 from Talin Fairchild.
Northern Lehgh 63, Pen Argyl 36: Coy Daubert scored 18 points — all on 3-pointers — and Kellen Bauer added 16 as the Bulldogs improved to 3-3. Kaen Kaiser led the Green Knights (2-3) with eight points.
Notre Dame-Green Pond 46, Bangor 38: Drew Boyd tallied 16 and Justin Manning scored 13 to lead the Crusaders (4-1) in a low-scoring Colonial League game. Loren Gaines scored 23 to lead the Slaters (2-2).
Northampton 60, ES South 36: The Konkrete Kids improved to 6-0 with a nonleague win as Brady Simock and Noah Walakovits led the way with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Nazareth 87, Bethlehem Christian 68: Gavin Kershner made five of his team’s seven 3-pointers and scored 33 overall while four other players reached double figures as the Blue Eagles improved to 5-0. Myles Harris led Bethlehem Christian with 35 and Gabe Transue added 20 as the Panthers fell to 4-1.
Executive 67, Lincoln 47: Eshaan Tung made four 3-pointers in scoring 20 points, and Camren Michel added 14 points as the Raptors (4-0) stayed unbeaten with a win over a team from Philadelphia. Ziyon Wilkins had four assists and Joshua Amos-Abanyie added seven rebounds.
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