Editor’s note - the boys game takes place Wednesday night, which comes after Press deadlines for the week.

Known for his instant basketball history recall, Catasauqua head boys’ basketball coach Eric Snyder couldn’t recall a ballpark figure on how many times his team and Notre Dame have met during the regular season and postseason.

Primarily, Snyder and Notre Dame head coach Pat Boyle have opposed each other for the past 30 years.

Wednesday night, which comes past Press deadlines, at Northampton High School, the two teams met again in a District 11 Class 3A semifinal matchup. Ironically, it will be the first district matchup between the two since 2017-18 when Notre Dame won, 65-44, in the semifinals.

Third-seeded Catty knocked off sixth-seeded Lehigh Valley Academy, 70-50, in their quarterfinal game, while second-seeded Notre Dame thumped seventh-seed Williams Valley, 63-46.

During the regular-season, Notre Dame stopped Catasauqua, 73-63, on Dec. 19, but Catty gained revenge with a 72-65 victory in the Colonial League semifinals.

So, what happens next? Snyder doesn’t expect any surprises. He knows his team has to slow down league MVP Justin Manning, guard Drew Boyd, and forward Cody Driscoll.

“We know what’s coming, and they know what’s coming,” said Snyder. “We know we have to control Manning, but Boyd is very good, and Driscoll can be a force in the middle.

“We have been getting good scoring from four of our starters, and Dylan Lorah is doing a good job filling in for Caiden Weaver, who is injured. But we really miss Weaver’s defensive play.

“We really don’t have size in the middle, and we always have to be concerned about it. We have two young guys we can bring off the bench if needed.”

Senior and leading scorer Frankie Pujols, who had 20 points and nine assists against Lehigh Valley Academy, anticipates another tussle against the Crusaders. It was another balanced scoring effort against L.V. Academy with Reece Lopez adding 17, and Hamaad Jenkins and Aalani Nix each chipping in with 10.

“Playing Notre Dame again is going to be like the finals,” said Pujols. “They got us in the regular season and then we got them back in the playoffs. So playing them is going to be hard knowing they’re going to be out for blood.

“This is a win-or-go-home game, but it’s not going to change our goal. That’s to win districts no matter who we play.”

Pujols cited a matchup last year and one this year as more of the memorable ones in the series.

“Everyone knows Notre Dame is the team in the Colonial League who always has a great record and leads the league every year. When we played them last year every score prediction we saw had them winning the league playoffs, and we were the underdogs.

“Beating the undefeated Crusaders felt great, knocking the number-one seed out of the playoffs, and we did the same things this year. It just shows how much our team truly wanted it, and we weren’t going to back down no matter what their record was.”

Jenkins, another senior, also expects a tight battle. He and his teammate rallied from a sluggish third quarter against Lehigh Valley Academy, and took it upon themselves.

“Playoffs wins are always big,” said Jenkins. “It was a win-or-go-home situation, so looking at it from a future standpoint we asked ourselves, ‘Is today the day our season ends or is it a momentum starter for the next few games?’

“We started off the game great then towards the third quarter we were getting a bit lazy, so we huddled up as players. After the huddle we flipped a switch and took over the game from there. We had four starters in double figures and when we do that, we are a very hard team to stop because you can’t really focus on one or two people.”

Jenkins and his teammates are confident they can neutralize Notre Dame and continue on their way to defend their district championship.

“We don’t play our best against them during the regular season,” noted Jenkins.

“We have had a few memorable games where we beat Notre Dame in the playoffs when it counts.”