When the Salisbury girls basketball team tips off its season on Friday night in the first of back-to-back nonleague contests, the Lady Falcons will look completely different from last winter.

The Falcons graduated four senior starters from last year’s squad, including leading scorer and Lehigh University recruit Meagan Eripret, who finished as the program’s leader in career points and averaged 18.5 points in 2015. Kelly Gonoude (8.1 points), Holly Szita (5.2) and Jenna Keet (3.8) also graduated after the Falcons qualified for both leagues and districts a year ago.

But one aspect of that starting lineup remains intact. Senior guard Lindsay Bauer, who was Salisbury’s second leading scorer in 2015, returns after taking on a much larger role last season when Eripret was less than 100 percent down the final stretch of the season. There’s no question Bauer, who averaged 13.2 points last season, will be the unquestioned leader for this group of Lady Falcons that will suit up three other seniors in the months ahead.

“Lindsay’s effort is tremendous at practice and it always has been,” Falcon head coach Joe Mladosich said. “This year she is showing some leadership abilities. Her effort is great. Things are going well for the first two weeks, so we’re very optimistic.”

“Her effort at practice, bar none, is as hard as anybody we’ve ever had. In that way alone she leads. She’s taking the responsibility on and she gets kids together.”

Kristen Bucchin and Sydney Utesch are two returning seniors that saw varsity time a season ago. The other upperclassmen is Victoria Tramonte, who is entering her first season with the program.

Besides those four, it’s a junior-laden team across the board. Junior Caylin Meikrantz returns after playing a pivotal role for the Lady Falcons last year, and junior Kyra Bruns is back on the court after missing all of last season with a torn ACL.

The Falcons will have to make up for the lost of two solid post players. In addition to graduating Eripret, who was one of the most dominant post players in the Lehigh Valley, not having Szita down low forces Salisbury to change its approach on offense.

“I think we’ll use four guards and one inside person most of the time versus two inside people and always looking for Meagan,” Mladosich said. “Now our guards are going to have an opportunity to score a lot more.”

With a smaller lineup comes an opportunity to thrive in the fast break game and pressure opposing offenses throughout the game.

“That’s what we’ve been working on-trying to push the ball a little more and press a little bit,” Mladosich said. “But putting a lot of new kids in at the same time has been difficult. We’re a little behind where we want to be.”

The addition of guard Rylee Donaldson should help in that area, while Caitlin Scialla adds another presence down low at the forward position. Both are freshman expected to play a large role in 2016.

With just one returning starter and a couple of other reserve players, there is a sense of the unknown of what lies ahead for the Lady Falcons. Mladosich’s main objective is to better his team each day. Postseason aspirations are still on the table as well.

“My goal is that we get better each day,” Mladosich said. “I would think we would all be disappointed if we couldn’t make the district playoffs.

“Our goal is always to make the league playoffs. I don’t think in the eyes of our kids that’s unrealistic at all. We want them to believe that they can and working hard can get them there.”

A number of last year’s top teams in the Colonial League also graduated their top players. Palmerton (No. 3 seed in 2015 Colonial League tournament), Saucon Valley (No. 4 seed) and Northwestern (No. 5 seed) graduated several of starters each. This season will likely see some of the league’s traditional powers look to get back to their place among the league’s elite.

“Southern Lehigh will be very good, and Notre Dame (Green Pond) returns a lot of kids,” Mladosich said. “Those two teams, I think, are above everyone else, at the beginning of the year at least. Palisades returns a lot of its kids as well.”