The Salisbury High School boys basketball team took a night off from its regular summer competition in the Lehigh Valley summer league at Cedar Beach to play in a tournament in Pottsville last week. It was a successful event for the Falcons as they finished with a winning record, going 3-2 at the 12-team tournament at the outdoor complex in Pottsville.

It was the first big outdoor basketball tournament for Salisbury in two years after not being able to get together and compete last summer due to the pandemic. The Falcons were able to leave Allentown and take on different opponents than they see each week in the Cedar Beach Summer League Small School Division.

“It was nice to be able to take the guys to a big event again and compete,” said Falcon head coach Jason Weaver. “We asked [LV summer league director] John Hrebik if we could use our bye Thursday and go out to Pottsville for the weekend to play a bunch of games in the tournament. I think it went pretty well overall. We won a couple of games and had some guys really impress.”

Salisbury played three games on Thursday, defeating Shamokin and Palmyra and then falling to Lebanon. On Saturday, the Falcons lost to District 11’s Pocono Mountain West before winning a game over Blue Mountain, a team they usually open their regular winter varsity season against.

“I thought that we played well all weekend, especially against Lebanon, who is a really good team,” Weaver said. “It was a cool experience. We try to play in this tournament every year, but after missing last year, a lot of the guys on the team haven’t ever played out here before. We had good weather, parents were able to bring lawn chairs and come and watch. It was a great experience.”

The victory against Shamokin on Thursday came on a buzzer-beater by senior Justin McKenzie. McKenzie, along with classmate Tyson Utesch, were singled out by Weaver as top contributors over the weekend.

Salisbury, which finished last season in the final four of the District 11 Class 3A Tournament, will be competing in another major summer tournament this weekend as the Falcons will play in the Bash at the Beach event at Cedar Beach. This tournament was formally known as the Stellar Tournament. They will also play in the A-town Throwdown event in late July, also known as Sportsfest.