Catasauqua head girls' basketball coach Dave Troxell possibly can relate to a calm before a storm.

His team has been idle since Dec. 19 and the Roughies had their first game since their long hiatus rescheduled Monday night. As a result, Troxell's troops will begin a four-game trek over seven days.

Instead of playing in a game over the holiday break, the Roughies sought to work on solutions to their seven-game losing streak after a season-opening victory over Mahanoy Area.

"We had a big focus on fundamentals," said Troxell about his practices. "We need to eliminate our turnovers that have really hurt us so far this season. The girls have remained positive through it all.

"It is a new year for us and new start. But we know we will have some tough tests ahead of us."

Troxell knows his team's first four contests against Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg, Wilson, Notre Dame of Green Pond, and Southern Lehigh could provide a good barometer reading for the remainder of the season.

"Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg has one of the top scorers in the area and the other Notre Dame has been playing well after a slow start," he said. "Southern Lehigh is one of the top teams in the area and Wilson is always a well-coached club.

"We know we will have to be ready to play, both physically and mentally. We believe we can improve, but it comes down to being able to execute and play sound, fundamental basketball."

"One reason we haven't been successful is that we haven't been good fundamentally."

Troxell did credit the potentially improving overall play of seniors Rachel Sell and Tori Saruba, both of whom came back to the program this winter.

"They both have been getting better in practice and should be steady contributors to the team,' said Troxell. "We have to see how they react in game situations, but they and the rest of the girls have been working hard."

In the second half of the season, Troxell will also look to starters forwards and leading scorers Katie Buczynski and Shiloh Sziy along with seasoned point guard Janae Matos to help spearhead the Roughies attack.

A promising beginning for the second half of the season easily can be ignited with the team's second win. Troxell is still dealing with the afterthoughts of losses to Moravian Academy and Northern Lehigh, both defeats he believed were well within reversing into victories. Catty lost a one-point game to Northern Lehigh.

"We really need to get another win at this point," stressed Troxell. "I still think about those two games, especially the Northern Lehigh game. We would be in a better spot with three wins right now. We just have to learn how to win. We will be competitive.

"I hope we can get a couple of more wins, especially for the seniors."