Salisbury boys basketball coach Jason Weaver could be heard yelling on the sidelines to his team to pick up the intensity on defense, and get some rebounds.

Upper Perkiomen was knocking down open shots and getting easy, inside looks under the basket from offensive rebounds. But in the second half, it was a different story.

Led by their veterans, the Falcons stepped up their intensity and scoring and led a second half comeback to take down the Indians 55-51 in the Stellar summer league inside Allen High School’s Sewards gymnasium last Thursday evening.

The win clinched Salisbury (7-2 overall) a playoff berth in the four-team small-school division format, which begins after the Sportsfest tournament wraps up in mid-July.

In the first half of last Thursday night’s game, Upper Perk looked like the team that would come out on top. The Indians hit shots, grabbed rebounds and played sound defense. The Falcons held only two brief leads of one point, and at halftime, the Indians were the team ahead by one, 28-27.

“The motive at halftime was that we needed to play better defensively and have a better shot selection on offense,” Weaver said. “We weren’t getting out in transition like we usually do, and needed to share the ball better. The second half was a totally different story.”

Returning upperclassmen Blake Jones, Jack Reichenbach, Jaxon Costello and Ryan Slutsky were the catalysts to the second half surge. The foursome scored all but one of Salisbury’s points. Jones led the team with 19.

“I knew we weren’t going to have trouble scoring,” said Weaver. “Those four guys can do it with the best of them, but it was about doing it at the other end of the court, too. We need some other guys to step up, but it’s the summer. You don’t really know what you have so I am trying to work some kids into the lineup to see what they can do for us.”

Reichenbach had 10 of his 18 points in the second half, and Slutsky tallied all nine of his over the final 20 minutes.

Jones knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half, but went 4-for-4 from the line over the final five minutes to help the Falcons keep their slim lead.

With Costello (8 points, 8 rebounds) getting the job done underneath the basket, it led to some transition points on the other end by Reichenbach.

With Salisbury ahead by just one at 46-45 late in the game, Reichenbach connected from long range to give his team a more comfortable lead. When the Indians brought it back to three, Jones hit two free-throws to seal the win.

The Falcons played their last summer league game Tuesday against Lehighton. That game was played after Press deadline. They will prepare for the upcoming Stellar and Sportsfest showcase tournaments over consecituve weekends in July before heading into the Stellar Summer League playoffs.

“We are going to travel to Panther Valley [Wednesday] to play against Pottsville and Berwick to help us get ready for next week,” said Weaver.