The Salisbury boys basketball team had a lead for most of the first half last Thursday night at Cedar Beach, but then the defense had a bit of a lapse.

Trailing in the second half, the Falcons began playing inspired basketball on both ends of the floor. Dasheen Reid and Brendan Reichenbach each had layups that gave Salisbury leads during a back-and-forth ending that saw the Falcons defeat Pleasant Valley, 55-51.

But it was from the charity stripe where the Falcons put themselves in a position to put the game out of reach.

Jaxson Costello went 6-for-6 from the line to help seal the deal.

"I thought his foul line composure was very effective," said varsity assistant coach Dave Spadt. "He shot his normal shot, and wasn't nervous or anything. He's always been a great foul shooter.

"I thought him and Dylan [Belletieri] stepping up in a late-game situation was huge for us. We took care of the ball tonight and that's what it came down to."

The Falcons lost all of last year's starting lineup to graduation, so others will need to step up this summer and this winter. Salisbury had three players score in double figures last Thursday, and another two score eight and nine, respectively.

Spadt credits his young team to always showing up at open gyms and wanting to learn and get better each week.

The summer season will be able to have this young team gel and get better as a unit with league play, and tournaments that they will participate in. Including the Stellar and SportsFest tournaments, Salisbury will compete in the DeSales University team camp later in the summer.

The Stellar Summer League will take a two-week break after this week as Cedar Beach hosts the two big summer tournaments.

The league will resume Tuesday-Thursday play on July 15 with three games left on the schedule.