Catasauqua head coach Ed Seidick was well aware of the challenge that stood in front of his girls' basketball team.

The Rough Riders headed into last week's meeting against Salisbury with their toughest matchup to date.

Gifted with the league's top player in Meagan Eripret, Seidick knew that slowing down the all-state selection would be difficult. With five of the Falcons' top seven players back from last year as well, that made things even more demanding for the Rough Riders to open up play in the Colonial League's West Division.

The Rough Riders fell behind 20-0 after the first period, and Salisbury's lead grew to as much as 36-3 at halftime before pulling away for the 57-15 victory last Thursday night at Salisbury High School.

"On [last] Tuesday night [against Bangor], we were fantastic," Seidick said. "We were in that game until the very end. I watched it on videotape, and the first half was as good as anything we could do.

"We came out tonight against the best team in the league, and we struggled."

It wasn't until the 3:09 mark of the second quarter that the Rough Riders got on the scoreboard following a free throw by Amarys Moten. Moments later, Catasauqua recorded its first field goal from Jaquelyn Garner.

Eripretwho finished with 24 points and 11 reboundsheld a key part in helping the Falcons jump out to that quick 20-0 advantage in the first quarter. She scored 14 of Salisbury's 20 in the opening eight minutes to go along with seven rebounds.

And while Eripret sat for the entire second period, the Lady Falcons' offense continued to roll into the break. Lindsay Bauer scored all 12 of her points in that second quarter.

"It was almost comical at times as she is standing above our girls," Seidick said. "What do you do when somebody is 6-4 going against somebody 5-9? It's a little tough, and they could do things at-will on us down low."

Salisbury scored 19 in the third period10 coming from Eripretto push that margin to 55-9 after three quarters of work.

Despite being in a hole from the opening tip, and facing a deficit that was seemingly insurmountable after just a period, Seidick urged his team to continue with the game plan until the final whistle.

And while the Rough Riders managed just 12 combined points after halftime, there was certainly a sense of fight and determination until the clock ran out.

"They came out and did much better in the second half," Seidick said. "There was more aggression, and they trusted the play we were trying to set up. The danger is that when you start to get down, you revert to bad habits. Then you start to push at each other to go harder, and the harder you try, the worse you do."

Jade Biviano was injured prior to the game, and the sophomore forward was held out against the Falcons due to precautionary measures.

Moten led the Rough Riders with five points, while Shiloh Sziy and Garner each scored four.

Catasauqua fell to unbeaten Palmerton on Tuesday night, 59-34. The Rough Riders host Pen Argyl on Thursday at 7 p.m.