In spite of their overall record of 13-5 heading into this week, Catasauqua head boys’ basketball coach Eric Snyder is worried.

In addition, the Rough Riders have won six of their last seven games. They recently routed Kutztown, 74-42, with Frankie Pujols leading the way with 19 and Reece Lopez adding 18.

Still, Snyder remains cautious, especially against teams with winning records. Catty also is fourth in the District 11 Class 4A bracket.

“We have been playing very up and down, very inconsistent, very lackadaisical,” stressed Snyder. “We are able to handle the teams that are not of equal ability and lower in the standings rather easily, but the teams that are ahead of us, we struggle with shooting, unforced, turnovers, questionable rebounding and makes it very difficult to win against a team with a similar record or better record than ours.”

Snyder noted the Roughies’ five losses have been against winning teams that are seeded high in their respective district brackets.

“Out of our five losses, we’ve lost to Salisbury twice, Notre Dame once, Northwestern once and, of course, Bethlehem Christian,” added Snyder. “They’re all teams that have one, or two, maybe three, losses and all teams that are ahead of us in the standings, of course with the exception of Bethlehem Christian.”

Senior guard Hamaad Jenkins believes his team can regain the momentum they gained last season when they got hot at the end of the regular-season and captured a district title on their way to the state playoffs.

“Our season has gone pretty well this year, considering it’s the core three’s (Pujols and Lopez) senior year,” said Jenkins. “We just have had the mindset of it being our last year. We have to put our all into every game and the season has been going by very fast, which is scary because I’ll really miss playing basketball after high school.

“I feel like our time is not quite where we need to be but we usually perform and peak at the right time, so I’m not too worried about that aspect.”

Jenkins is comfortable with the current state of his game.

“I feel like my game has improved tremendously in ways like my confidence and leadership and I have been the point guard running this team for four years,” added Jenkins. “My voice and actions matter. My shooting and decision making has gotten better. It really all comes from just working when nobody is around, that’s when true character shows.”

Snyder believes Jenkins can be a consistent performer down the stretch.

“Hamaad‘s jumpshot has been very inconsistent this year as compared to last year,” evaluated Snyder. “He still plays his heart out, he’s all over the court. He rebounds like he’s six-foot- five, but his shooting accuracy will hopefully pick up for the playoffs.”

The Roughies may have suffered a major blow when they possibly lost 5-10 post player Caiden Weaver for the season with a knee injury.

“As for the loss of Caiden Weaver, we will miss his rebounding, his selflessness, his willingness to do whatever needs to be done to make a good play happen to win a game,” said Snyder.

“He is mobile around the basket, converts on most layup opportunities, and knows his range. He knows his limitations, and we’ll miss him taking charges. We miss him blocking shots and miss him setting pics again for only a kid that’s 5-10. He did so many of the little things unbeknownst to a lot of people and was the glue behind our press. He will be sorely missed.”

Fellow senior Dylan Lorah has taken Weaver’s place.

“Dylan Lorah is doing a very nice job filling in for him,” said Snyder. “Dylah does not possess the same abilities that Caiden does, but Dylan has some abilities that Caiden did not have, so it’s a trade-off. They’re both good kids. They both work hard and they both give us different types of contributions to the team. We will see what happens.”

The Roughies will be on the road this week with games at Bangor Tuesday, Saucon Valley Thursday, and Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg Saturday. Snyder is confident his team will be ready for the postseason.

“We just have to keep working,” said Snyder. “We just have to take one game at a time.”