Following the conclusion of the 2021-22 varsity basketball season last March, head coach Jason Weaver and the Salisbury High School boys basketball team knew they were going to be almost a completely different team for their 2022-23 campaign. The Falcons graduated their entire starting lineup and are going to be leaning on some younger, more inexperienced players this year.

This offseason so far, there have been bumps in the road, but also some learning points that Weaver and the program can build upon.

“The summer has been a learning experience for us,” said Weaver. “We lost all five of our starters from last year and between this and the number of kids playing summer baseball, we have had a very inexperienced team. Some nights, we are starting two or three incoming freshmen. The kids are playing hard, however we are inexperienced and smaller than every team we play.”

Salisbury dropped its first five games of the Lehigh Valley Small School Division summer league schedule, which began in May, but won its lone game last week and has shown signs of improvement each and every game. The Falcons defeated Bethlehem Christian 51-33 last Tuesday evening at Whitehall High School. Jairo Suarez and Lucas Graver both finished with 10 points to lead the way.

Weaver also noted a couple of other standout performers so far this summer for their hard work and dedication on and off the court.

“Jack Foley, Nick Kansan and Luke Kannan have been at every basketball open gym and game in the past six weeks, which some weeks is five nights a week,” Weaver said. “Their dedication has been superb. My hope is the more we play, the more experience we get, the more competitive we can be, which will lead us to success this winter.”

Salisbury plays in a league game on Tuesday against Catasauqua at Whitehall’s elementary school gymnasium. The Cedar Beach Bash at the Beach tournament is this weekend, beginning Thursday.

Here are scores from last week’s games along with updated standings through games played Thursday, June 16.

Tuesday, June 14

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Roberto Clemente 61 (Syncere Dixon 17), Upper Perkiomen 55

Saucon Valley 75 (Jack Robertson 23), Kutztown 33

Salisbury 51 (Jiro Suarez & Lucas Graver 10), Bethlehem Christian 33

Lehighton 48 (Blake Roberts 16), Catasauqua 36

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Pocono Mt. East 52 (Sebastian Fermin 21), Nazareth 42

Wilson West Lawn 65 (Seamus Breslin 13), Palmerton 57

Northampton 67 (Sam Koplin 18), Phillipsburg 57

Reading 51 (Myles Grey 22), Emmaus 49

Muhlenberg 66 (Xzavion Robertson 19), Bangor 43

Southern Lehigh 43 (Jonah Shaw 15), Whitehall 40

Executive Education 34 (Moustapha Sanoh 12), Central Catholic 27

Dieruff 29 (Alexis Rosario and Zajari Tirado 9), Quakertown 26 (OT)

Thursday, June 16

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Kutztown 62 (Andrew Fleming 24), Roberto Clemente 47

Northwestern 57 (OT) (Cayden Fitch 14), Saucon Valley 50

Lehighton 44 (Blake Roberts 18), Bethlehem Christian 28

Upper Perkiomen 50 (Evan Bosler 14), Catasauqua 40

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Whitehall 41 (AJ Hines 12), Emmaus 33

Parkland 43 (Matthew Ray 14), Quakertown 34

Muhlenberg 51 (Eric Branch & Luis Valentin 11), Liberty 30

Nazareth 45 (Cole Dibilio 10), Southern Lehigh 39

Freedom 49 (Josh Washington 17), Easton 31

Notre Dame Green Pond 71 (Zach Rodgers 27), Executive Education 45

Phillipsburg 48 (Matthew Scerbo Jr. 16), Allen 32

Service Electric Big School Player of the Week: Sebastian Fermin, Pocono Mt. East

St. Luke’s Small School Player of the Week: Blake Roberts, Lehighton

Standings

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Team W-L

Northwestern 7-0

Saucon Valley 6-1

Roberto Clemente 5-3

Upper Perkiomen 4-3

Lehighton 4-4

Kutztown 3-3

Catasauqua 2-5

Salisbury 1-6

Bethlehem Christian 0-7

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Team W-L

Muhlenberg 8-0

Parkland 8-0

Executive Education 7-2

Freedom 6-2

Central Catholic 5-2

Emmaus 5-3

Northampton 5-3

Notre Dame GP 5-3

Wilson West Lawn 5-3

Pocono Mt. East 4-4

Quakertown 4-4

Reading 4-4

Phillipsburg 3-3

Whitehall 4-5

Dieruff 3-5

Liberty 3-5

Palmerton 3-5

Nazareth 3-6

Allen 1-7

Bangor 1-7

Southern Lehigh 1-7

Easton 0-8