It was a quick turnaround between the conclusion of the Bash at the Beach tournament at Cedar Beach and the start of the Lehigh Valley Summer Basketball League playoffs at Whitehall High School, as the semifinal round of the summer league’s small school division took place just two days following Sunday’s final day of the tournament.

The Salisbury High School boys basketball team had a successful weekend at the Bash, going 2-2 and playing deep into Saturday night, surviving as one of the last few teams in the division.

The Falcons qualified for the four-team small school division playoff tournament as the three seed, finishing with an 8-4 overall record. They were matched up against the two seed, Upper Perkiomen, a team that finished with the same 8-4 record, but defeated Salisbury when the teams played during the regular season.

The Indians had a lead for a majority of the game and held on late, taking down the Falcons 47-43 last Tuesday night at Whitehall Middle School.

“We started off slow and went down early so we expended a good bit of energy to get back close,” said assistant coach and acting head coach for the playoff game Chris Basile. “If we made our fouls shots, the outcome would have been different.”

Upper Perk, just like they did during the regular season, gave Salisbury fits with its size and power. The Indians also made some shots to get on top and remain there.

“We still struggle with teams that are physical,” Basile said. “We need to work on boxing out as we will be undersized against most opponents. Upper Perk shot well early and built a double-digit lead. We fought back but were never able to get the lead.”

There is still one more time to play together as a team this summer, the A-town Throwdown tournament this weekend back at Cedar Beach. Basile hopes to see the hard work his team is putting in, continue this weekend leading up to a strong winter.

“We as a coaching staff are very happy with the hard work by a core group of players this summer,” said Basile. “Coach Amanda Falcone does an excellent running our strength and conditioning program. Rising seniors Jack Foley and Brady Leiner have been consistent attendees and the Kannon brothers have close to perfect attendance at open gyms and lifting sessions. Incoming freshmen Garrett Leiner brings energy to every work out. We can really see the improvement of the players who are attending our summer session and look forward to this weekend where we have entered a Varsity and JV team.”