Just a couple of weeks ago Salisbury suffered its second loss of the Stellar Summer League against Lehighton. The Indians held a double-digit lead in the second half and survived a furious rally from the Falcons in the final moments.

That was Salisbury’s last loss of the summer, and last week the Falcons got some revenge against Lehighton.

The storyline was a 180-degree turn from the first meeting. Salisbury (9-2) used a game-defining 11-0 run to open the second half that put Lehighton (6-6) away for good. A 47-28 victory at Allen High School cemented a successful regular season and the No. 2 seed in the Small School Division playoffs that begin in late July.

“We lost to them last time, so it was definitely a better effort,” Falcon guard Blake Jones said. “It was good to beat a team that we lost to.

“Our defense was a lot better. I don’t think we even gave up 10 points in the second half. We shot the ball better, moved it better, and played better as a team.”

Salisbury allowed just nine points over the final 20 minutes due in large part to its lock-down defense that head coach Jason Weaver had been preaching for all season.

“I think they still want it to get a lot better, but it’s definitely improving as the season is going on,” Jones said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”

The offense, meanwhile, continued to score at a consistent pace like it has all summer. It started with Jones (14 points) and Costello (11 points), the two incoming seniors that figure to be two of the central leaders of this core.

After Patrick Adams scored the first bucket of the second half, Jones came through for Salisbury with back-to-back layups in transition to make it a 28-19 advantage.

Jack Reichenbach raced down the court for a fastbreak layup shortly after, and Jones sunk his second three-pointer to give Salisbury a 33-19 lead before Lehighton scored a point in the second half.

For Jones, the shooting ability has always been there. He’s used this summer to work on a few other areas of his game in preparation for the winter.

“I’ve been able to keep shooting well, so I guess getting to the basket and individual defense is what I’m working on,” Jones said. “I know that will help the team most if we can get stops.”

It will be over 20 days in between that Lehighton game and when Salisbury takes the court for their opening round playoff game on July 19 against Faith Christian. That game is currently set for 7 p.m. at Cedar Beach’s Court 3.

But Salisbury won’t be completely idle those three weeks. First, the Falcons will suit up in this weekend’s Stellar Construction “Catch A Rising Star” Basketball Showcase. The Falcons’ first game is against Pocono Mountain West on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The hopes are high once again for Salisbury in the tournament after they advanced to Sunday last year.

“We definitely think we can do something in Stellar and go pretty far with our team,” Jones said.