For the past few years, Catasauqua head coach Eric Snyder has been searching for height.

Unlike the other years, Snyder will get his wish as the Roughies return a group that has their baptism under fire from a 1-21 season last year.

It will be a club laced with a healthy junior class that has grown over the previous two campaigns, similar to a favored crop ready to harvest.

“We do have some height this year,” said Snyder, who is beginning his 28th year at the helm. “We have a lot of juniors, and we don’t have a lot of freshman and sophomores.

“We do have a good group of seventh- and eighth-graders. I really like our junior class, though. They have really developed over the last two years.”

Junior 6-4 Derek George will be back in the post, and he’ll have some company. Junior 6-5 Ty Reitz, 6-2 Donovan Walakovitz, 6-2 Gideon MacKenzie, along with 6-0 Mason Hess should all see time down low.

Senior Jacob Smith will play the two-guard or small forward, but he likely be sidelines until early January recovering from a torn meniscus.

“Derek (George) did a nice job for us last year, and he will improve,” said Snyder. “Reitz, Walakovitz, and MacKenzie all played well during the summer. Mason Hess is a solid player.

“It is nice to have some size.”

Junior Cole Schiffer will be back to run the point and fellow juniors Damian DiPaolo and Derek Troxell should see time at shooting guard, and Troxell also can play small forward.

Sophomore 6-0 Donovan Keys could be an impact player this winter.

“He (Keys) really had a good summer,” added Snyder. “He has a lot more confidence, especially with the ball. He knows what to do with and without the ball.”

Snyder likes the possibility of his team’s flexibility this season.

“I believe we can have a lot of options with our lineup,” he said. “During the summer, we beat Stroudsburg with George, Smith, DiPaolo, Troxell, and Schiffer, for seven or eight minutes, basically with four guards out there.

“However, we can’t afford to have injuries with our guards. If we can stay healthy, we’ll have some depth.”