For a team coming off a 4-18 record, expectations may not be expected to be high.

But don’t tell that to Catasauqua head girls basketball coach Mark Seremula. The Roughies’ first-year coach has liked what he has seen from his team on the verge of the upcoming season.

“Things are going well,” said Seremula. “We are ahead of where I thought we would be at this stage. We still have a ways to go to where we want to be. We missed some practices due to the weather.

“We just have to keep working hard to keep a good feel for things.”

Seremula will look to seniors Cassie Barna, Allanah George, Amy Huber, Julie Lacey, and Taylor Richards to set the pace this winter.

“They all got minutes and experience at the start and more as the year went on,” said Seremula. “We’ll be relying on them this winter. All of them saw time as sophomores, and they have brought us the experience and leadership we need.”

Seremula has a combined 17 players in the varsity and JV programs, a number that makes him pleased. The Roughies also have 19 players at the middle school level, a definite pipeline for the future.

The new head coach also was happy with his team’s performance against Lincoln Leadership

“Numbers breed competition and numbers also create opportunities,” he said. “This will help the program, and we see it as a positive.

“We were able to score on a consistent basis in our scrimmage. We have to play more to our strengths. We have to be a little bit more intense, but our defense was pretty sound. We seem to be playing better every quarter out there.”

Sophomore Lexi Rusatz will be at the point again, and she is expected to improve overall. Junior Maddie Hicks also should see more playing time this winter.

Fellow sophomores Olivia Emery and Emma Hawk and freshmen Aidan Gerhard and Bronwyn Pacchioli all will also figure into the plans.

The Roughies also again will open their season against host Tamaqua in their annual tournament. They will open their league slate with Bangor next Tuesday (Dec. 11) before they travel to Salisbury next Thursday (Dec. 13).