Perhaps the biggest challenge lying ahead for head coach Jason Weaver is how he’s going to replace the size of Jaxon Costello, Ryan Slutsky and Eric Frankenfield.

If he can’t replace them, Weaver is hoping to at least mask their departures and his team is focused on that this summer.

The Falcons have adjusted to life without those three in summer league play so far. And most recently, they got a prime opportunity to gauge their progress in the inaugural Cedar Beach Basketball Showcase.

The Falcons, who went 0-2 in the tournament, had an opportunity to see how they would fare against a couple of talented teams with size and athleticism. After dropping their first game to Freedom, the Falcons’ run came to an end against defending Class 6A district champion Pocono Mountain West.

“It was a tough draw in the sense of their quickness and athleticism,” Weaver said. “Their size hurt us a little bit. And their pressure, especially Freedom with their full-court man pressure.”

Weaver wasn’t necessarily pleased with how Salisbury opened the tournament against the Patriots. But against arguably its toughest opponent of the summer thus far, he saw plenty of bright spots against Pocono Mountain West despite the double-digit loss.

“I think against Pocono Mountain West, in the first half we played really well,” Weaver said. “We were hitting our shots. We might have been down six or seven at halftime, and we played pretty well. Their depth, quickness and size sort of wore us down. I was much happier with our effort against Pocono Mountain West than Friday night against Freedom.”

One aspect, however, that remains a focal point is learning how to play fundamentally-sound basketball in the paint. That means more of an emphasis on boxing out and gaining correct position in the post.

“We got hammered on the boards,” Weaver said. “I think that is going to be on of our bigger challenges, obviously with losing Jaxon and Ryan with our size up front. We weren’t doing a good job boxing out. We gave up a lot of second-chance points.

“I’m hoping we can be better defensively, too, that we can pressure people a little bit and we’re not forced in a half-court game as much where our lack of size can give us trouble.”

Archbishop Carroll defeated Berks Catholic for the boys’ championship on Sunday. Emmaus and Bangor were the other two final four participants.

Salisbury continues its play in the summer league with games against Notre Dame (Green Pond) and Warren Hills this week.