Catasauqua’s boys basketball team plays with an edge and an intensity.

It’s an aggressiveness that feeds into the Roughies’ up-tempo style of play, something that opposing teams have seen more of as Eric Snyder’s squad has started to hit its stride.

Catasauqua has put together some of its best performances in recent weeks, and the results have followed. The Roughies secured their fifth win in seven games Saturday with a convincing 57-31 Colonial League victory over Jim Thorpe.

“We have a lot of speed and quickness and aggressiveness,” Snyder said. “With Reece Lopez spacing the floor ... when he’s on, that just makes us so much better, because Hamaad Jenkins loves to go to the hole.

“Frankie Pujols is a great scorer even though some of his shots didn’t go in today, and Matt Fotta, that was his best game of the year so far. He was aggressive on defense, he rebounded well, we went with authority to the basket on the rebounds. He’s got to play like that all the time.”

Catasauqua used an 11-1 run in the first quarter to turn a tie game into a 16-6 advantage.

After a three from Pierce Gothard near the end of the period cut the Olympians’ deficit to single digits, the Roughies opened the second quarter with a 10-0 surge to push their lead to 29-11 with 4:17 left in the period, as both Fotta and Emmanuel Bolmer connected for threes while Lopez and Jenkins each added baskets during the run.

It wasn’t the start to the season Snyder envisioned for his team, which opened the year 0-4, with three of those losses coming by a combined seven points, with the other setback at the hands of a 12-2 Northwestern team.

Catty’s other two losses? A 42-39 defeat against a 10-4 Wilson team, and a one-point loss to Pleasant Valley.

The Roughies have found their rhythm recently, with five victories coming by an average margin of 21 points.

“These kids know they’re better than 5-6, and that’s what we’re showing,” said Snyder, whose team led 46-25 after three quarters Saturday, and 57-27 in the fourth. Lopez led the Roughies with 15 points, including 10 in the first quarter and 12 in the first half, as Catty took a 31-18 advantage after two periods.

The Olympians created good looks on offense, but weren’t able to get shots to fall, which fed into the Roughies’ transition game.

“We knew what Catty was going to be coming in. They’re definitely quick, they like to get out and run, and they hit a bunch of shots today,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Brian O’Donnell. “We got open looks, worked the ball well, just weren’t able to get shots to fall.

“I thought we certainly played hard. They’re a very talented and athletic team. When you add in the fact that we’re not hitting shots with the turnovers, that’s hard to overcome. But we’re playing hard. It just wasn’t our day today.”

Like Snyder and his squad, O’Donnell — who is in his first year leading the Olympians — has watched the squad grow since the start of the season, going 2-2 in its four games before Saturday.

“We’re definitely playing much better than we were to start the year,” said O’Donnell. “Our scores don’t really reflect how we’re playing in a lot of games. Overall, I’m really happy with the effort from these guys. And we knew it was going to be tough coming into the Colonial League this year, but from the start to where we’re at now, I’m definitely happy with the progress that we’re making.”

BUILDING BLOCKS ... The starting five for the Olympians features senior Aaron Curran, juniors Ethan Moore, Cole Lazorick and Pierce Gothard, and sophomore Brody Schrantz. O’Donnell is excited to continue building with that core, as well as several other underclassmen who have gotten playing time this year, such as juniors Michael Antignani and Caiden Hodor, and freshmen Anthony Kiehl, Blaze Flyzik and Spencer Gothard, while the leadership of players like senior Zach Zurn has been vital on and off the floor.

STAT LINE ... Gothard finished with six points for Jim Thorpe, while Schrantz and Lazorick each scored five. Pujols and Fotta both finished with nine points for Catty.

UP NEXT ... The Roughies face a tough test tonight at home against 12-1 Lehighton, while Jim Thorpe visits Saucon Valley.

CATASAUQUA

Pujols 2-5-6-9, Rosado 0-0-0-0, Lopez 5-3-4-15, M. Bolmer 2-0-0-5, Jenkins 3-1-2-7, A. Bolmer 0-0-0-0, Cofie 1-0-0-2, Weaver 0-0-0-0, Fotta 4-0-0-9, Conway 0-0-0-0, Vaz 0-0-0-0, Gonzalez 0-0-0-0, Lorah 1-2-2-5, Nix 2-0-0-5, Delong 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-11-14-57.

JIM THORPE

P. Gothard 2-0-0-6, Curran 1-2-4-4, Lazorick 2-1-2-5, Flyzik 0-0-0-0, Kiehl 2-1-2-6, Zurn 0-1-2-1, S. Gothard 0-0-0-0, Hodor 0-0-0-0, Antignani 2-0-0-4, Schrantz 2-0-0-5, Moore 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-5-10-31.

Catasauqua 19 12 15 11 - 57

Jim Thorpe 11 7 7 6 - 31

Three-pointers: Catasauqua - Lopez 2, M. Bolmer 1, Fotta 1, Lorah, 1, Nix 1. Jim Thorpe - P. Gothard 2, Kiehl 1, Schrantz 1.

Records: Catasauqua (5-6, 4-5); Jim Thorpe (3-10, 2-8)