A year ago, the Salisbury boys' basketball team was able to ride a run in districts that earned them a third-place finish and a spot in the PIAA tournament.

The Falcons were not as fortunate this time around.

Despite trailing by 21 points heading into the fourth quarter of Friday's District 11 Class AAA quarterfinals against Bethlehem Catholic, that didn't stop the Falcons from playing until the final whistle. The No. 4 seeded Falcons were able to cut their deficit to five points with 20 seconds to play, but it was a little too late. The No. 5 seeded Golden Hawks were able to hold on and advance to the semifinals with a 73-66 win at Allen High School's Sewards Gymnasium.

"I think no matter what the situation is, it's always disappointing at the end because you don't want it to end [and] you want to keep playing," head coach Jason Weaver said.

"We kept playing hard, and to me, that's the most important thing in terms of moving on beyond this and into next year. We're always going to compete and play hard."

Trailing 54-33 heading into the final eight minutes and most of the crowd counting them out, the Falcons never quit playing with intensity. They were able to start the quarter on a 16-6 run, and Justin Aungst's three-pointer with 3:33 to play made it an 11-point game.

Aungst would continue to keep the Falcons within striking distance in the final frame, as he scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the fourth. He hit his third three-pointer of the fourth to make it a nine-point game at 68-59. Dasheen Reid hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to make it a five-point deficit, the closest the Falcons had been since it was 21-16 midway through the second.

"In the first half, I think we missed a lot of layups and we missed foul shots," Weaver said. "You can't do that in the playoffs. You've got to take advantage of every chance you have, and we didn't do that.

To go along with Aungst's 22, three other Falcons scored in double figures. Eddie Sanchez, Dasheen Reid and Austin Uhl, who was held out of the starting lineup and was limited due to injury, all scored 10 points each.

"I think offensively, at times, we became a little quick to shoot in the first half," Weaver said. "We've got to work the ball and we've got to get good shots. Yes, we want to run and push the tempo, but in the half court we got to make the defense work a little bit."

The Falcons got off to another slow start against the Golden Hawks, which has been a problem in recent games. The Golden Hawks jumped out to a quick 7-0 advantage and led 14-11 after the first quarter.

It didn't take long for the Falcons to take the lead once the second quarter began, but that margin was short-lived.

The Falcons scored the first two baskets in the second, including a layup by Aungst with 6:20 remaining in the half, to take the lead at 15-14.

The Golden Hawks retook the lead moments later, and they put together a run in the second and third quarters that ultimately decided the Falcons' season. After the Falcons took their one-point lead, the Golden Hawks ended the half on a 20-6 run. They stretched their 13-point lead at half to 20 after three quarters.

Edward Hudak led the Golden Hawks with 24 points, including 15 in the first half, and Jamal Aziz scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth.

"This team has a lot of potential," Weaver said. "When we play our best, I think we can compete with anybody. We had bad starts the past two games. We were down 8-2 against Catty, and we're down 7-0 today."