Troxell puts his mark on Catty hoops history
Star becomes 12th boys player and 22nd overall to reach 1,000 points
Back in 1989, Dave Troxell came just 45 points shy of reaching 1,000 in his Catasauqua High School basketball career. Troxell’s bid was affected by an injury in his junior year.
On Thursday night, Troxell’s son Derek reached 1,000 points and his father not only got to see it, but also announced it as the Rough Riders public address announcer.
The milestone came with 3:26 left in the first quarter against Pen Argyl and it was a 3-pointer from the corner off a Cole Schiffer pass that gave Troxell the milestone.
He became the 12th boys player and 22nd athlete overall at Catty to reach 1,000 points and he’ll now have his name on a banner that includes several of the best players in Lehigh Valley basketball history starting with all-time great Larry Miller.
It was part of a big night for Catasauqua basketball as the Roughies played a doubleheader for what is believed to be the first time in school history and got a sweep, beating Palisades 57-45 in the first game and Pen Argyl 62-35 in the nightcap.
Troxell began the day needing 27 points. He scored 21 against Palisades and added 16 against Pen Argyl, finishing the night with 1,010 career points.
“Honestly, I can’t put it into words,” Troxell, a senior, said after posing for dozens of pictures and receiving twice as many congratulatory comments. “It was so special to have my parents here, my grandparents, my brother and my sister, my girlfriend. To do it in a season like this with my injured shoulder, it was something special. It’s a unique story I will remember forever.”
It was in a game against Northern Lehigh on Jan. 21 when Troxell suffered a torn labrum that threatened to end his season and quest for 1,000 points.
While he’ll require surgery after his school year and baseball season ends, Troxell worked hard to get back on the court after missing 2 ½ games.
“I know all the hard work he
put in since he was a freshman,” Catty coach Eric Snyder said. “I know he put in time in the weight room with my son James, in the gym, at the playground, at the three dips [small hills at the Catasauqua Playground]. He’s the one guy who shows up all the time and does everything he’s supposed to do.”
Schiffer, another senior, was happy to be the one to make the pass to set up the milestone-maker.
“We knew how many points he needed; we knew we had to get it out of the way,” Schiffer said. “Every chance we had I was trying to get him the ball if he was open. Derek is our guy. We go by him. We’re just here to support him and help him.”
Schiffer said getting Troxell to 1,000 points was a team goal.
“We wanted this for him because he deserved this accolade,” Schiffer said. “When he got hurt, we knew he’d come back because he’s a warrior. He was going to get it done.”
Catty also got it done, winning its third straight game to improve 6-10 and build some momentum
entering the District 11 3A tournament where the Roughies are likely to face Palmerton in a quarterfinal round game Thursday night.
“This was a big week for us to get us ready for districts,” Schiffer said. “We hope we can get some more wins and make a run there.”
And, Troxell has at least one more chance to add to his point total and legacy.
“This school means a lot to me,” he said. “I’m very involved in this school. I’m in the National Honor Society, I play three sports [soccer and baseball are the others], I am my class secretary. Being that Catty is a small school, it’s very unique and special to me because I am the type of guy who likes to do things with my friends.”
It also means a lot to his father and his late grandfather, Frank Troxell, who died in 2019. Frank Troxell served the school district for many years as a business education teacher, an assistant principal and high school principal before retiring in 1993.
“To be able to wear brown and white means a lot to me and to have my dad by my side means a lot,” Troxell said. “He wanted this for me and I wanted it for my family.”
The Raptors were without six members of their coaching staff, including head coach Nick Nurse, and starting forward Pascal Siakam for Friday night’s game against the Rockets in accordance with the NBA’s health and safety protocols regarding the coronavirus.
Assistant coach Sergio Scariolo was promoted to coach the team’s game in Tampa, Florida, against the Rockets. The Raptors said Nurse and the remainder of his staff will continue to work remotely.
Scariolo had been away from the Raptors while coaching Spain in FIBA’s EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers and just cleared quarantine Friday. The Raptors were considering other options if he was not cleared to coach in time, including bringing their G League staff from that league’s bubble season, currently going on in Lake Buena Vista, Florida — about an hour from Tampa. The Raptors lost an assistant coach last weekend when Chris Finch was hired as the Timberwolves’ head coach.
“I don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of games he’s been a head coach,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said. “But it’s unique, and he acknowledged that much, especially under the circumstances.”
Nets star Kevin Durant’s “mild” left hamstring strain is more severe than originally expecte. A routine follow-up MRI determined Durant requires “an additional recovery period” that will keep him out through the March 5-10 NBA All-Star break . ... Kristaps Porzingis has endured a lot the past two weeks while remaining silent publicly. He broke that silence Friday after putting in a full practice with anticipation of returning to the court to face the East-leading Nets in Brooklyn on Saturday night. First, the rumor that emerged Monday night in a Bleacher Report story that said the Mavericks have been quietly gauging his trade value, a report that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and coach Rick Carlisle strongly refuted. “It kind of like came out and it is what it is,”
Golf: Brooks Koepka hit one of his worst tee shots of the day that barely cleared the water on the 15th hole. That turned out to be the start of three straight birdies that led to a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead Friday in the Workday Championship. In some respects, that’s how his recent surge has been. Coming off a pair of missed cuts, Koepka won the Phoenix Open to end an 18-month drought. He’s starting to hit his stride with the first major of the year ahead.
ATLANTA — Real estate investor Larry Gottesdiener was approved Friday as the lead owner of the Dream following pressure on former Sen. Kelly Loeffler to sell her share of the WNBA team.
The three-member investor group also includes former Dream guard Renee Montgomery and Suzanne Abair, president of Northland Investment Corp. in Massachusetts, the firm Gottesdiener founded.
Montgomery becomes the first former player to become both an owner and executive of a WNBA team. She sat out the 2020 season to focus on social justice issues and recently announced her retirement from the league after 11 seasons. The approval by the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors was expected and unanimous. It means co-owner Mary Brock also sold her share of the team, which will remain in Atlanta.
The WNBA announced on Jan. 20 the ownership change was close to being completed. Players around the league have called for Loeffler to sell her 49% stake in the Dream after she wrote a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert over the summer objecting to the league’s initiatives to advocate for racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“With the unanimous WNBA and NBA votes, today marks a new beginning for the
Atlanta Dream organization and we are very pleased to welcome Larry Gottesdiener and Suzanne Abair to the WNBA,” Engelbert said in a statement.
“I admire their passion for women’s basketball, but more importantly, have been impressed with their values. I am also thrilled that former WNBA star Renee Montgomery will be joining the ownership group as an investor and executive for the team. Renee is a trailblazer who has made a major impact both in the game and beyond.”
Montgomery said her new role can set a tone.
“Breaking barriers for minorities and women by being the first former WNBA player to have both a stake in ownership and a leadership role with the team is an opportunity that I take very seriously,” Montgomery said. “I invite you to join me as the Dream builds momentum in Atlanta!”
Montgomery is in her first season as a studio analyst on Atlanta Hawks broadcasts for Fox Sports Southeast.
Montgomery won titles with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. She was an All-Star with the Connecticut Sun in 2011, when she set a career high with her average of 14.6 points per game. She was the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year in 2012.
Gottesdiener said he considers it “a privilege to join a team of inspiring women who strive for excellence on the court and equity off the court.”