Catasauqua’s boys’ basketball team has their share of difficulty at the A-town Throwdown this past weekend, as they dropped all three of their games.

But the young Roughies took another step toward maturity and passed another character test.

Catty’s final game was a 70-57 loss to Sankofa, the Philly-based school and eventual champion that edged Emmaus in the final.

“They (Sankofa) were physically gifted,” said Roughies’ head coach Eric Snyder. “They could play volleyball on the boards. Our kids were very challenged.

“But we were down nine with three minutes to play. They took us lightly and we had the lead at one point. They didn’t think they could get rid of us. I was really proud on how we battled.”

In their 47-15 loss against Bishop McDevitt from Harrisburg, the Roughies has trouble with their 2-2-1 press.

“It was close the first six or seven minutes,” added Snyder. “We ended up throwing the ball around too much.”

Catty opened the tournament against Dieruff, and the Roughies had trouble with their man defense. It resulted in a 58-26 defeat.

“Their (Dieruff) man-to-man pressure killed us,” said Snyder. “We got behind too far too early. We just didn’t handle it well.”

Snyder was impressed with the play of Derek Troxell and Andrew Martinez. Devon Troxell also had a good tournament.

“Derek (Troxell) shot fantastic,” said Snyder. “Andrew Martinez and Devon Troxell has shown a lot of leadership and have been leaders.”

He also cited the play of Derek George, Jacob Smith, and Cody Velez.

“Derek (George) is our big man and he is only going to be a sophomore,” said Snyder. “He really has improved a lot. Jacob Smith is a tireless worker and he hustles all over the court. Cody Velez also is improving on his shooting and all aspects of his game.”

The tournament traditionally signals the end of summer play for the Roughies. But they still have nine games left over the next two weeks.

Snyder hopes his team can continue to show growth on several levels.

“Most of them are learning what varsity play is about,” said Snyder. “They get behind, but they don’t quit.

“They are a great group of kids who have shown a lot of guts and determination.”