Salisbury was the final team to qualify for the Colonial League girls’ basketball tournament. But the No. 6 seeded Lady Falcons nearly pulled off the unforeseen upset over the weekend.

With only minutes remaining in the game, Salisbury took a four-point lead on No. 3 Bangor when Sarah McGee hit two of three free throws. The Lady Slaters, however, had an answer to avoid the upset. Bangor quickly evened the game at 33-33 and hit its free throws down the stretch to advance to the Colonial League semifinals with a 39-38 victory on Saturday afternoon

The Lady Falcons had one last chance after Olivia Hoeing was fouled on a three-pointer in the final second. And while Hoeing made two of three from the charity stripe, head coach Joe Mladosich was quick to praise his young point guard, who recently stepped into a starting role due to injuries.

“I thought the freshman point guard did a very good job,” Mladosich said. “Her effort is tremendous. I just told her that without her we wouldn’t have been in the game, so don’t worry about [the free throw].”

Salisbury was without Kyra Bruns and Kelly Gardus, who were missing due to injuries. That left an opportunity for players like Hoeing and Erica Holben, underclassmen who hadn’t had much varsity time, to have an impact in the playoffs.

Without two starters, Salisbury certainly held its own against Bangor. After a slow start that saw the host Lady Slaters jump out to a 9-3 lead in the first quarter, the visitors chipped away. The Lady Falcons capitalized on seven Bangor turnovers in the second quarter and took their first lead at 14-12 going into halftime.

“I’m disappointed if we lose, but I’m not disappointed in our effort,” Mladosich said. “We played with the girls we had and they did a good job. We played well. It was a little sloppy at times. There were a lot of turnovers from both teams.”

The Lady Falcons didn’t let up in the second half. Their lead was never relinquished, and it was due in large part to an unexpected hero. Junior forward Alicia Burkhardt, who scored 10 of her game-high 12 points in that third frame, helped Salisbury push its lead to its largest margin at 28-23 heading into the final quarter.

“We told her [Burkhardt] at halftime that if they play the triangle and two, you are going to be the one that is open,” Mladosich said. “You have to step up and shoot. She can shoot.”

Bangor would have an answer. The Lady Slaters scored six of the first seven points of the fourth quarter, and an Olivia Groller field goal tied the game at 29-29. Salisbury responded with a bucket from Holben and those two free throws from McGee (eight points) to take a brief 33-29 advantage.

Marissa Fernandez-Tierney tied the game at 33-33 moments later, and the Lady Slaters connected on six free throws down the stretch (all from Nicole Robinson) to close out Salisbury.

The win advanced the Lady Slaters to a semifinals matchup against No. 2 Notre Dame (Green Pond).

“We had it right where we thought we could win,” Mladosich said. “We were ahead probably half of the game.

“I thought we did a good job on the press. We got a couple of steals and things like that. We played hard. We don’t have size.”

Caylin Meikrantz scored nine points for Salisbury. Bangor got nine points from Robinson.