For a while, Salisbury was able to rule the game on both sides of the court in the Colonial League semifinals

The game went to the midway point of the third quarter with the Falcons still holding a 12-point lead over the defending league champions last week at Whitehall High School.

Northwestern Lehigh erased the deficit on its way to a 56-51 win and a return to the league championship.

Salisbury (21-3) opened the game by taking an 8-0 lead and pushed Northwestern further behind throughout the first half.

In the first two minutes of the game, Salisbury buried a pair of three-pointers and then moved inside for the quick lead.

Northwestern didn’t get on the board until Brady Krimmel hit a jump shot with 5:01 left in the quarter that made it 8-2.

“We did a good job early in the game,” said Salisbury head coach Jason Weaver. “But I would have liked to see us be able to continue that intensity.

“We hit a lot of shots early and coming out as strongly as we did was important and gave us a good early start.”

Northwestern’s Malachi Coleman hit his second three-pointer of the night and knocked down another as the Tigers climbed back into the game, trailing 18-15.

After a time-out, Salisbury’s took a 30-20 lead going into the break.

Salisbury moved the lead to 39-27 midway through the third quarter before the game began to turn.

The Northwestern defense closed in on the Falcons’ shooters and Northwestern (19-5) battled back.

Much of the turnaround came from the foul line as the same team that went 0-for-5 from the line in the first half poured in 13-of-14 foul shots in the second half. Four of them came in a 1:05 span in the third quarter.

When the third quarter ended, Northwestern had closed the deficit to 39-35.

Just as Salisbury’s time-out earlier in the game reignited the Falcons, Northwestern head coach Patrick Wanamaker did the same with his team on the sideline between the final two quarters.

Brady Zimmerman got an open look for a three-point shot. Coleman grabbed an offensive rebound and put a shot right back up to give the Tigers their first lead at 40-39.

The Tigers had put together a 17-2 run to take a 44-40 lead.

With Salisbury trailing 46-44, the Tigers defense forced a turnover that tuned into a layup. From there, Northwestern’s final eight points came from the foul line.

“They amped up their defensive pressure and we didn’t play as well,” said Weaver. “We got passive and got beat on the boards early, too many second-chance points and guys were beating us off the dribble. Our defense wasn’t good enough.”

Salisbury was looking for its first league title since the 2011-2012 season, which would have also given the Falcons the top seed in the District 11 4A playoffs. With the loss, they will have extended time off before returning for districts.

“We know that Northwestern is going to be one of the favorites, and we can compete with them and we just have to focus on the fact that there is more to play for,” said Weaver.