The Salisbury boys basketball program had an uncharacteristically short end to its 2018-19 season last year, having fallen short of postseason play after being a perennial District 11 and Colonial League championship contender.

But if the start of a new athletic calendar year is any indication of how the Falcons will do in the upcoming 2019-20 season, confidence should be high for head coach Jason Weaver and his team.

In their summer league game last week, the Falcons led from start to finish and took down Kutztown 58-32 last Thursday night under the lights in the Cedar Beach Summer Basketball League. With the win, Salisbury improved to 5-0 in the Small School Division.

“There’s been a lot of positive energy and effort around these guys so far here,” said Weaver. “Our game [earlier] against Lehighton, we were down 18 at halftime and nobody was really doing anything. I had to play 15 or 16 different guys, and I said something to them at halftime about being outplayed.

“We ended up winning that game in overtime. That’s probably the first time in three or four years that I’ve seen that kind of energy from the guys. We battled back and it was great to see. We’re playing well and are able to get a lot of guys some time.”

A younger player that has stepped up for Salisbury, and did so in the victory over the Cougars, is rising junior Quintin Stephens, who led the way with 13 points, eight of which came in the first half, as the Falcons took a 27-16 lead at the intermission.

Scott Monahan also reached double figures with 10 points, and both Zach Cornish and Treyce Weber contributed six points. Sean Tyler and Patrick Foley each had five points for the Falcons, who held a double-digit lead all of the second half in cruising to the win.

“It’s always fun when you’re winning,” Weaver said. “The guys have been playing hard and they deserve to win.”

Salisbury graduated two starters and three seniors from last year’s team, so there is plenty of experience back.

“We have a lot of guys that played valuable minutes last year,” said Weaver. “There’s experience and athleticism across the board here now and I’m excited for what’s in store.”

Salisbury had one game this week, against Notre Dame-Green Pond (Tuesday) and will now prepare for the upcoming Bash at the Beach tournament scheduled for June 20-23.