While both the Northwestern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh football teams have kept their seasons going all the way to the state finals at Cumberland Valley this week, the Colonial League’s boys basketball season begins Tuesday night.
While no one is talking about state championships in this sport, the league should feature plenty of competitive teams and talented players. Many of them are in the Colonial League South, where Catasauqua is a returning district champ and has several key players back from its memorable postseason run last winter.
Salisbury showed what it can do in the summer by winning two championships, while Southern Lehigh has a new coach with a winning pedigree, and Saucon Valley still has a winning culture despite the loss of seven standout players from last year’s team.
Here’s a look at the Colonial League’s South Division:
4 players to watch
Palisades junior Lincoln Cook: He averaged 14.5 points per game last season and made 30 3-pointers last year.
Salisbury senior Steven Lozada: He averaged 13.3 points per game and made 28 3s. He also had the game-winning basket to give the Falcons a summer basketball tournament title last summer.
Southern Lehigh senior Joe Plessl: He averaged 11.3 points per game and made 48 3-pointers last season.
Catasauqua senior Frankie Pujols: He averaged 17.3 points per game and made 33 3-pointers last season. He has 884 career points.
3 questions to answer
(1) Can Catty build off of its exciting postseason run last season?
(2) Can new Southern Lehigh coach John Arcidiacono make an immediate impact with the Spartans as he adjusts to Lehigh Valley and PIAA basketball after a successful stint in New Jersey?
(3) Can Saucon Valley stay competitive after losing most of its scoring punch from last season?
2 league openers to see Tuesday night
Bangor at Catasauqua
Salisbury at Pen Argyl
1 man’s opinion
Predicted order of finish: 1. Catasauqua; 2. Salisbury; 3. Southern Lehigh; 4. Saucon Valley; 5. Palisades.
Catasauqua
Coach: Eric Snyder (34th season, 394-421).
Last season: 19-11, 10-8 (third in South).
Postseason: In Colonial League tourney, beat Notre Dame-Green Pond 69-66, beat Bangor 46-31, lost to Northwestern Lehigh 74-57 in finals. In District 11 3A tourney, beat Williams Valley 58-44, beat Mahanoy Area 61-36, beat Minersville 61-50 for the title. In the PIAA tourney, beat Philadelphia Academy Charter 70-43, lost to Lancaster Mennonite 51-49.
Players to watch: Franklin Pujols (Sr. G); Jomar Rosado (Sr. G); Reece Lopez (Sr. G); Manny Bolmer (Sr. F); Hamaad Jenkins (Sr. G); Caiden Weaver (Sr. F): Richard Chapparo (So. F): Joseph Conway (So. F/C); Jayvien Vaz (So. G); Asael Gonzalez (Jr. G); Dylan Lorah (Sr. F); Cody Roth (So. G); Aalani Nix (So. G); Evan Delong (So. C).
Outlook: Catty’s postsason run to the league finals and a District 11 championship created lots of excitement and community support. It inspired talented players such as Pujols, Jenkins, and Lopez, who want another crack at the league title that eluded the Roughies last season and make a deeper run in the PIAA tournament. “These kids are confident and they believe in themselves,” coach Eric Snyder said. “The practices have been unbelievably intense and they’re focused. These kids don’t let up.” Two key players who gave the team height and an inside presence – Matt Fotta and Jeremiah Cofie – graduated. Each played 30 games last season and combined for more than 320 points. “They were 6-foot-4, and 6-foot-2, and they were big on the boards and made a lot of things happen,” Snyder said. “They were physical and strong. Aalani Nix, who played a lot as a freshman as our sixth man, will step into one of those spots, and Caiden Weaver, who’s only 5-foot-10 but plays his heart out, will be the other starter.”
Palisades
Coach: Chris Burrier (second season).
Last season: 3-19, 3-15 league.
Players to watch: Jack Trickel (6-3, Sr. G); Lincoln Cook (6-2, Jr. G) 14.5 ppg; Blake Oglialoro (6-2, Sr. G/F); Nate Roberts (6-5, So. F); Cash Wilson(6-4, So. F); Shane Schuback (5-10, Jr. G); Jackson Butler (5-10, So. G); Luke Guaragno (5-11, Sr. F); Sebastian LaRosa (6-1, So. G/F); Owen Kuhnel (6-4 Fr. F).
Outlook: “Last year was a year of rebuilding the culture,” Burrier said. With only 14 players between JV and varsity, the injuries early in the season really cut down on the expectations of the season. This year, more players came out who want to build on the competitive culture. “Last year, we gave some guys opportunities that normally would not have been there, which adds to the depth on the roster this year. With Lincoln, Blake, and Jack all returning as starters, we have some upperclassmen experience to help guide our new young forwards into the speed of varsity competition,” Burrier added. “By the end of last year, we were able to compete with the stronger teams like Catasauqua, losing in overtime, when early in the season we lost to them by 30. We hope the growth and improvement at the end of last season leaks into the start of this season.”
Salisbury
Coach: Jason Weaver (18th season, 243-170)
Last season: 14-10, 11-7 league (second in South Division).
Postseason: Lost to Saucon Valley 53-45 in Colonial League quarterfinals; lost to Saucon Valley 43-41 in overtime in the District 11 4A quarterfinals.
Players to watch: Bryan Gonzalez (6-0, Sr. G) 35 3s: Steven Lozada (6-2, Sr. G) 13.3 ppg, 28 3s; Julian Makhoul (6-3, Jr. F); Drew Petrie (5-11, Sr. G) 10.7 ppg, 25 3s; Aidan Smarch (6-4, Sr. C); Garrett Leiner (6-0, Jr. G); Keaton Frye (6-1, Jr. F). Gerritt Kloosterman (6-0, Sr. G): Cole Muth (6-0, Sr. G-F); Riley Cady (5-11, Jr. G).
Outlook: The Falcons won summer league and summer tournaments in July, but want more in the winter. The team lost just one senior from last year, but suffered a blow when junior Keaton Frye suffered a broken leg during football season. He might be back in time for the playoffs. “He was one going to be one of our major contributors,” Weaver said. “He was a junior who was our sixth man last year and was probably going to start this season. He played for us in the summer and he was the guy who set screens and could rebound and defend. He did all the things you need to win. Weaver said he has “good guards who can shoot, penetrate, and find the open man. The guards are the team’s strength. We’re good from the perimeter. But we’re not a deep team or a big team. Rebounding and interior defense are concerns. Some guys are going to have to step up and replace the minutes that Keaton was going to play.”
Saucon Valley
Coach: Brett Snyder (fourth season, 61-25)
Last season: 22-7, 14-4 league (first in South).
Postseason: In league tournament, beat Salisbury 53-45, lost to Northwestern Lehigh 55-47 in semifinals. In the District 11 4A tournament, beat Salisbury 43-41, lost to Allentown CCHS 44-42, beat Lehighton 46-41 in the third-place game. In the PIAA 4A tournament, beat Dobbins Tech 53-50, lost to Valley View 42-25.
Players to watch: Joseph Petersen (Sr. F); Chase Best (Sr. G/F); Noah Weiss (Sr., G/F); Michael Magnotta (Sr. G); Matthew Chaffier (Jr. G); Nathan Hanna (Jr., F); Isaac Osman (So. G/F); Pryce Robbins (So., F); Jacob Peters (So. F); Thomas Cahill (Fr. G/F); William Hastie (Fr. G).
Outlook: The Panthers graduated seven players who made big contributions to a 22-win team and were a big part in revitalizing the program over the last three seasons. The Panthers return three players who had varsity experience last season. “We have some talent in this year’s gym, but we need to play as a team and improve our basketball IQ,” Snyder said. “Lack of experience shouldn’t be used as an excuse. This program is in a spot where we expect our kids to compete on a nightly basis, regardless of who we are playing. The competitiveness of our practices has made this group fun to be around this season, and he goals are to improve week to end and play our best basketball at the end of the year. The program has been successful the past three seasons, and now this group needs to come in and match the expectations we have in our program.”
Southern Lehigh
Coach: John Arcidiacono (first season).
Last season: 12-12, 8-10 league (fourth in South).
Postseason: Beat Selinsgrove 50-49 in a District 11-4 Class 5A subregional quarterfinal; lost to Pottsville 55-36 in the semifinals.
Players to watch: Joe Plessl (5-10, Sr. G); Mike Fry (Sr. 6-2-, F); Wyatt Adams (6-2, Sr. F); Jack Fistner (6-1, Jr. G); Morgan Capuano (6-1, Jr. F).
Outlook: Arcidiacono is a Connecticut native and a 2018 DeSales University graduate who had success as a coach in four seasons at Absegami High School near Atlantic City, where he led the team to 73 wins and guided them to state semifinals in 2023 and 2025. He left as the second-winningest coach in the school’s history. He replaces Ryan Wehr, who went 55-31 in four seasons. “I want to return Southern Lehigh to being a team that can compete with the other top teams in the Colonial League and District 11 5A,” Arcidacono said. “My goal for these guys going forward is to have them compete for championships year in and year out. We have kids who can shoot, and our half-court defense is much improved from what I saw last year. I think we’ve gotten a lot tougher over the course of the summer. These are all positives. We’re a little undersized, and that could be an issue, but we’re really starting to hit our stride.” Arcidacono is currently the housing director at DeSales and is enjoying his time back in the area. “It has been great so far and I can’t wait for the season to get rolling,” he said.
