Believe it or not, a 20-point loss in which a team is held to under 30 points can actually have a positive effect.

That’s the situation Salisbury found itself in following Friday’s 47-27 loss to unbeaten Pottsville, the No. 1 ranked team in the District 11 Class 3A rankings. The Falcons, sitting right behind the Crimson Tide as the No. 2 ranked team in 3A, struggled to get into any offensive rhythm and were outmatched by a much tougher Pottsville squad. The 27 points was by far their lowest total of the season.

But head coach Jason Weaver and the Falcons figured the way Pottsville hounded down on them would only make them stronger, forcing them to work harder on their offensive sets.

The Falcons seemed to have reaped the benefits from that late-season nonleague clash against the Crimson Tide.

Two days later, Salisbury (17-3 overall, 14-1 in Colonial League) used a 30-point third quarter and the offense erupted for its highest point total of the season in an 89-56 victory over Notre Dame (Green Pond).

The Falcons overcame an early 19-10 deficit and outscored the Crusaders (12-8, 11-5) 52-25 in the second half.

“It was tough [against Pottsville],” said senior Tevon Weber, who scored 14 points and dominated the boards against the Crusaders. “Their defense was tremendous. It’s going to help us out in the long run just because how good they are.”

“I feel like Pottsville’s defense definitely made us better,” Costello said after posting 11 points against the Crusaders. “We haven’t seen defense like that the whole year.”

After opening last week without a loss in the Colonial League, the Falcons dropped two of their previous three overall heading into Sunday’s tilt against Notre Dame. A loss to Saucon Valley last Tuesday was Salisbury’s first league loss.

But much like that Pottsville game, the Falcons believe that setback to Saucon Valley has helped them grow.

“I feel like we had so much time off, so many practices and games canceled before the Saucon Valley game,” Costello said. “I feel like we just weren’t ready to play that game. I feel like we went in soft definitely.

“I feel like we definitely needed that loss in the league to play better as a team.”

Once Colonial League play resumed, the Falcons got back to their winning ways. It started with a convincing win against Palisades and then a dismantling of the Crusaders.

Giving up 19 first-quarter points to Notre Dame wasn’t how Weaver envisioned his team to come out of the gates. But the tides quickly turned to Salisbury’s bench.

Weber gave Salisbury back the lead at 25-23 midway through the second quarter when he blocked a Crusader shot, corralled the rebound, and ran the length of the court to complete a three-point play. The Falcons, who didn’t lead since an early 2-0 lead, never relinquished that advantage.

“The first quarter they put up 19, and we knew our defense could have been better,” Weber said. “As a team we came out in the third quarter and we just wanted to play tight defense, run out on them, and make the right passes.”

The Falcons grew their lead to 37-31 at halftime, but it wasn’t until the third quarter that the landslide started to fall. It centered around the Falcons’ duo down low.

After Blake Jones hit his first of four three-pointers in the second half to make it a quick 44-31 Salisbury lead, Costello (who tallied seven in the third) scored the next three Falcon field goals to balloon that lead to 51-32. Weber was his usual efficient self all night, but none more than that third-quarter stretch when he produced 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.

“We work on it in practice a lot, getting the ball down low,” Costello said. “We know we can draw fouls and finish on most big men in this league.”

“We knew we had an advantage inside,” Weber said. “Every time I saw him [Costello] posting up, I tried to give it to him as much as possible.”

Six Falcons recorded double figures, led by Chad Cooperman’s 15 points. Dylan Belletiere scored all 14 of his in the opening half, and Ryan Slutsky rounded out a balanced scoring attack with 13.

“We haven’t been playing our best lately,” Weber said Sunday. “To get this win is huge. Now we have our momentum back going into Senior Night, and hopefully we get another win so we can get our bye for the first game of the league playoffs.”

The Falcons win over Northwestern on Monday clinched the West Division title and ensured they would get a bye in the first round of the league playoffs. They advance directly to the Wednesday’s semifinal.