The Salisbury High School girls basketball program has an excitement surrounding it. Coming off a three-win season last year, the Falcons are looking ahead and aiming to improve. And they will do so under new leadership, as head coach Paul Ziegenfus takes over the program for his first season in charge in 2022-23.

He is excited about working with a new group and all that it entails.

“The exciting thing about this upcoming season will be the unknowns,” said Ziegenfus. “We only have two seniors back. We have some girls that haven’t played a lot at the varsity level, and we have a good group of incoming ninth graders. I have always loved playing the underdog and I believe many won’t give us much of a chance this year.

“I believe we have a lot of hardworking girls that want to get better and that love playing basketball. I am confident that we will play solid fundamental, disciplined, team basketball and will play hard for each other. We will see what that means as far as wins and losses over the season.”

Last season’s leading scorer, Quinn Wittman, graduated. She was a do-it-all type player who was the team’s top scoring threat for all four years of her high school career.

Some of the top returning players that will help make up for the loss of Wittman include seniors Hannah Kamp and Angela Bitar, juniors Desiree Nales, Ava Smarch, Tula Reihman, Paige Ziegenfus, Sydney Ziegenfus and Bailee Neitz, along with sophomore Maya Suleiman. Freshmen Kendra Morgan and Isabella Nimeh are new to the program, but they could be contributors in their first year in blue and white.

Like with any team, there are strengths and some areas for improvement.

“We have great size and have depth in numbers,” Ziegenfus said. “We can go 10 deep, play with a lot of energy and not a lot of people will take us seriously. I think we can surprise some people. But we don’t have a lot of experience, from the players to coaching staff.

“I think we will get better as the season progresses. We are trying to create a winning culture at Salisbury and get the girls excited about basketball.”

Salisbury opens its regular season with a Colonial League matchup on the road at Catasauqua next Tuesday, December 6.

The home opener is scheduled for December 15 against Palmerton.