There are two very distinct differences between the Salisbury and Saucon Valley basketball teams this season. Saucon Valley starts five senior players while the Falcons have just one senior on their roster.

The second distinction is in size. Saucon Valley boasts a pair of 6-foot-5 players who gives Salisbury fits.

The differences, especially the size differential, made things difficult for the Falcons as the Panthers won all four meetings between the two teams during the 2024-25 regular season and postseason, including a 43-41 overtime win in the opening round of the District 11 4A playoffs that ended the season for the Falcons last Friday.

“Saucon’s size was an issue for us,” said Salisbury head coach Jason Weaver. “(Adam) Clark and (Caleb) Grim are both 6-5 and factors in the post and on the glass. We needed to focus on boxing them out and forcing them into tough shots and with our focus on them, we gave some of their other guards easier opportunities.”

The Salisbury defense did a good job on the two big men holding them to five points each in the game.

As it turned out, the fourth meeting between the two teams was the best of the four matchups.

Salisbury came into the game aggressive and opened an 11-point lead in the opening quarter and led 23-15 at halftime. Saucon Valley found some firepower during the break and came out as the aggressor in the third quarter, but Salisbury weathered the storm well and saw its lead increase when Steven Lozada dropped in a basket for a 33-24 lead in the game.

The next 10 points were scored by Saucon Valley as the Panthers took the lead for the first time in the fourth quarter at 34-33.

Jack Robertson, who scored 17 points against Salisbury in their last meeting, finished with 15 points, eight of which came in the final quarter as the two teams were tied 38-38 after both teams missed opportunities late in the quarter. For the Falcons, it was a pair of missed free throws and for the Panthers, the final possession of the game ended in disappointment as they failed to get a game winner.

“Robertson was also a tough match up for us,” said Weaver. “His physicality and toughness gave us trouble at times, and he also hit some big shots. We battled and gave everything we had at the defensive end against them and perhaps that wore us down offensively over time.”

Saucon Valley drew first blood in the overtime period on a basket by Adam Clark that made it 40-38 and Robertson turned the transition game into a basket to follow up on Clark’s shot to put the Panthers up by four.

Salisbury’s Bryan Gonzalez turned things around when he hit a three-pointer to make it a 42-41 game, but ironically, it was Elijah Miller, one of Saucon Valley’s smaller players who blocked another three-point attempt to keep Salisbury from taking the lead with just :03 left on the clock.

Andrew Gilbert went to the line with :00.3 remaining and hit one of two free throws to give the Panthers a two-point edge and Salisbury was unable to beat the buzzer on a last-second shot, giving Saucon Valley a ticket to the semifinals.

Salisbury finished the season with a 14-10 record, the same mark last season with, but the Falcons did it after losing key seniors and having a much younger team with less varsity experience.

“We had some varsity experience coming into the season, but not a lot,” said Weaver. “Our guys played as a team, worked hard and got better every week. It was a tough way to end the season with the overtime loss to Saucon, but I know that the majority of the team is coming back and the hunger to improve and compete is only going to get stronger.”