Last season, the Salisbury boys' basketball team endured a successful campaign that included a 12-4 mark in the Colonial League, an appearance in the league playoffs, a third-place finish in the District 11 Class AAA tournament and a trip to the PIAA championships.

Despite losing three seniors from last season's team, including All-Colonial League First Team selection Dan Reichenbach, as well as leading scorer and All-Colonial League Second Team selection Tyler Brown, the Falcons believe they can compete with anyone when the season begins on Friday.

Head coach Jason Weaver, who is entering his sixth season with the Falcons, understands that the Colonial League will be competitive once again, and nothing will come easy to the Falcons.

"I think a lot of teams, especially in our division, didn't lose that much," Weaver said. "Notre Dame [Green Pond] didn't lose much. Saucon gets all of their guys back. Southern Lehigh has a majority of their team back.

"We're going to have to play well to be able to accomplish 12-4 in the league again. I think we can compete with anybody, but we have to make sure we come together as a team and keep working on that."

The senior class, led by Justin Aungst and Austin Uhl, will be relied upon in a much greater role to replace the voids left by Reichenbach, Brown and Tyler Cooperman.

Aungst, who averaged 9.7 points per game last season, has started as both a sophomore and junior under Weaver. He also saw some playing time as a freshman.

Uhl, meanwhile, averaged 8.9 points per game last season, and started at center as a junior. He was also a significant contributor as a sophomore.

"I think those are our two most experienced guys," Weaver said. "He's [Aungst] just a guy that does all the little things to make us better. He has continued to do that so far with practice and the scrimmagesplaying hard, getting out on defense, making steals and finishing inside.

"Austin is very much improved as well in terms of his post moves, his finishing and his athleticism. I would think those are two guys that we're really going to depend on."

Junior forward Bryce Fairclough, who had a solid summer, will see time in the frontcourt when Aungst or Uhl are out of the game.

One of the biggest points of emphasis is going to be replacing Reichenbach and Brown at the guard positions. Weaver believes the combination of a number of players will help secure the Falcons' backcourt.

Seniors Eddie Sanchez (4.2 points per game in 2012-13), Brad Vangeli (4.3 points per game in 2012-13) and Naveed Hadian, as well as junior Brendan Reichenbach, could all have a big impact at the guard positions.

Sanchez, who started early in the 2012-13 season, has also had an impressive summer for the Falcons. With the loss of nearly 23 points per game from the three graduates, Weaver will look upon Sanchez to provide more scoring this season.

"When he gets out there, it's just putting it all together, which he is more than capable of doing," Weaver said. "Last year he was sort of a complimentary piece, and in some games he didn't get that many looks. But this year, he's going to have to score for us."

Sachez won't be relied upon to carry the entire load, however. Last season, the Falcons had seven players that scored 100 points or more. Aungst, Uhl, Vangeli and Sanchez are the returnees from that group, and Weaver expects a similar balance this season.

"There's 12 guys between the junior and senior classes, and I think all of those guys could help us at some point throughout the season," Weaver said.

The Falcons, who have been practicing since November 18 and had two scrimmages, will open their season Friday night when they host Blue Mountain. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.