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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Salisbury girls open season with four wins

It's pretty clear what Salisbury center Meagan Eripret can do on the basketball court. Through the Lady Falcons' first four games, Eripret has scored a total of 96 points.

But the Lady Falcons' success may ultimately come down to their guard play.

In their latest conference game, the Lady Falcons saw a glimpse of what this team can do when all phases are clicking. It was an impressive outing from the opening tip until the final buzzer.

Following a 20-0 Salisbury lead after the first quarter, the Lady Falcons (4-0 overall; 2-0 in Colonial League) pushed that advantage to 36-3 at halftime after holding Catasauqua without a field goal for over 13 minutes. The Lady Falcons' offense added 19 more points in the third en route to a 57-15 win on Thursday night at Salisbury High School.

The victory was the Lady Falcons' first division win. With a number of tough division games upcoming, Salisbury players understood the importance of beginning their conference schedule on the right foot.

"One of our goals this year is to make it to the league finals because last year we made it to the semifinals," Eripret said. "We want to make it further this year. Since they are letting more teams in, that's going to be tougher and our division is tougher. As many league wins as we can get in before we get those super tough teams, that will help us out a lot."

This year the Colonial League will hold six-team basketball playoff tournaments with division winners earning first-round byes.

Eripret, who didn't play in the second or fourth quarters, scored 24 points against the Rough Riders, marking the third time in four games she tallied at least 24. She also grabbed 11 rebounds during the two quarters she played.

But while Eripret continued to impress, it was the Lady Falcons' backcourt players that had arguably their best game as a group. Lindsay Bauer scored a season-high 17, including 12 in the first half, while Jenna Keet scored six in that dominant first-quarter stretch.

"I think this was definitely the game where we moved the ball the best," Eripret said. "Today was definitely a lot better when it came to turnovers and ball movement. I think it was a matter of all of the early season jitters getting out of the way and getting used to how we're playing."

Eripret had 14 in the opening quarter, but Keet scored the final of her three field goals with eight seconds left in the first to cap that 20-0 run. It wasn't just Keet's scoring, however, as the senior guard showed plenty of hustle in setting up her teammates with a team-high five assists to go along with six steals.

With the Lady Falcons' leader sidelined in the second quarter, Bauer took over in the scoring department, scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting to cement the 36-3 halftime lead.

"This was the game where everything has come together the best," Eripret said. "It's still not up to par where we want it to be, but it's where we've come together the best."

Amarys Moten got the Rough Riders on the board with a free throw with 3:09 to play in the half. Moments later, Jaquelyn Garner's field goal broke that drought.

The Rough Riders, who were without one of their top players in Jade Biviano, continued to fight in the second half, but Salisbury's balanced attack was too much to handle for a full 32 minutes.

The Lady Falcons played every available player in the win, gaining plenty of experience for many of the underclassmen.

Salisbury hosts Wilson on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a meeting with West Division leader Palmerton on Monday.