After Jack Reichenbach scored two consecutive field goals to cut Bethlehem Catholic’s lead to 52-49 late in Friday’s District 11 Class 3A third-place game, Salisbury found itself with a fighter’s chance after trailing by seven points just moments earlier.

And when Blake Jones caught the ball on the left wing with roughly a minute left on the clock still trailing by three, most people inside Allen High School’s Sewards Gymnasium probably expected a potential game-tying three-pointer to fly. Instead, Jones fooled everyone, even the Golden Hawks’ defense.

After a brief hesitation behind the arc, Jones drove for a layup that resulted in a game-tying three-point play with 58.3 seconds left. Becahi had a wide open opportunity from Julian Spigner on its next possession, but his missed dunk ended up in Tevon Weber’s hands. Weber’s two free throws gave Salisbury (21-6) a two-point lead with 43.3 seconds left and a strong defensive stand that resulted in three Hawk misses. A Weber blocked shot lifted the Falcons to a 56-52 victory.

“[Chad Cooperman] was in the corner waiting for a three-pointer if it was open, but it wasn’t so it got swung my way,” Jones said. “I felt like they didn’t think I would drive, they just thought I would shoot the three. I saw the opening on the baseline and just drove.”

“Blake is a smart basketball player,” said Salisbury head coach Jason Weaver. “I know he hit a couple of threes in the first half and in the second half he wasn’t hitting his shots, but he took advantage. He got the guy off-balanced.”

The Falcons earned the final spot in the PIAA Class 3A tournament and will play District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt on Friday evening at West York High School.

It looked as if Salisbury’s hopes at qualifying for states were slim coming down the stretch. The Hawks stretched a one-point lead after three quarters to 52-45 with Kewku Dawson-Amoah’s final field goal of his team-leading 17 points.

The Falcons were held to just two points for the first half of the final period. But there was never a sense of panic on Salisbury’s bench. The Falcons closed the game on an 11-0 spurt to cap an improbable run.

“We didn’t want this season to end,” Weaver said. “We made the right plays. And maybe that’s what we learned a little bit from Tuesday night [against Blue Mountain]. But we executed down the stretch.”

It was only fitting that Belletiere, who received a number of encouraging text messages from his dad throughout the day, got beyond Becahi’s defense for a deep inbounds pass from Weber that sealed the victory in the final seconds.

“It just came down to I got hot early and I just wanted to keep that going and find my teammates when necessary,” Belletiere said. “Also my dad, he’s been on me about saying Rocky quotes. ‘There is no tomorrow’. He sent me that today so that just showed how something like that can push me.”

Belletiere, who scored a team-high 21 points, scored the first six points for Salisbury and tallied nine in the opening quarter. But the Falcons starred at an 18-14 deficit after eight minutes and still trailed Becahi’s by one point at halftime.

Due in large part to eight more Belletiere points in the third quarter, Salisbury took its largest lead at 37-32 with 4:33 to play in the frame.

“We also didn’t want to rush shots,” Weaver said. “I thought we did a much better job tonight working for good shots and reversing it. We were also able to run on them a little bit; we were able to get some stuff in transition which always helps as well.”

While Belletiere, Weber (11), Jones (11) and Reichenbach (10) all scored in double figures for Salisbury, the Falcons got a number of valuable minutes from Eric Frankenfield in the post. Frankenfield, who started for Weber because of missing some practice time with a sickness, saw even more minutes with Jaxon Costello being sidelined for medical reasons, too.

“I talk about Frankenfield, he didn’t play a minute here in the playoffs,” Weaver said. “He really stepped up. I think Becahi’s physical style of play helped him a bit. He got a couple of loose balls and rebounds. Frankenfield is my kind of basketball player because you don’t have to score to be effective.”

Friday’s game against Bishop McDevitt will be played at York Area High School at 6 p.m.