BRODHEADSVILLE – A night of doubleheaders at Pleasant Valley ended with the Bears winning two nail-biters.
Deshawn Scarboro netted two clutch free throws with 0.9 seconds left to lead PV’s boys to a 37-35 victory over East Stroudsburg North in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference action on Friday night.
The Lady Bears capped the night with a 39-36 win over the Timberwolves behind a dominant 20-point performance by junior Maddison Rosenberg in EPC girls basketball.
In boys action, North’s Dozie Ensyobi sank a critical layup with just 18 seconds left to tie the game 35-35. But Pleasant Valley timed the next 17 seconds perfectly. Scarboro drew the foul and went to the line to sink his shots and put the Bears ahead 37-35.
“He stepped up and made his free throws, but you’ve got to give North a lot of credit. They fought,” Bears coach Matt Gould said.
Scarboro’s shots weren’t the end, though. Each team took a timeout following Scarboro’s attempts, and as the Bears tried to inbound the ball, PV’s Michael Duviella was called for his fifth foul, sending North’s Bekim Azemi to the line with still 0.9 seconds on the clock.
Azemi’s shots fell short, and PV escaped with the narrow win.
“It’s tough. It just shows our inexperience that we haven’t really been there before,” North coach Adam Holtzer said. “And sometimes – I said it to them in there – tonight, the ball just didn’t bounce our way.”
Gould commended the Timberwolves, who Pleasant Valley also defeated 47-45 on Jan. 20.
“They come to play,” Gould said. “Their record doesn’t represent it, but they can beat anybody any given night of the year.”
The Bears (8-8, 4-7 EPC) are now within striking distance of qualifying for the District 11 Class 6A playoffs. With six games left on their schedule, three more wins will now lock them into the postseason. Those remaining six opponents are North Schuykill, Pocono Mountain East, Stroudsburg, Whitehall, Freedom, and PM West.
“I’ll be honest with you … they’re all winnable,” Gould said.
“We’re just focused one game at a time, and that’s really where it’s at.”
For the Lady Bears (10-6, 6-5 EPC), Rosenberg stepped up with three key teammates out – Cameron Caffrey (illness), Masani Francis (ankle), and Ashley Schwenck, who injured her ankle during Friday’s contest.
Up 36-34 with just 29 seconds left, Brianna Clark sank both of her free throws after drawing a foul for a 38-34 advantage.
And despite a floater by North’s Anais Wilson to make it 38-36 with 14 seconds remaining, Rosenberg drew one final foul with 6.7 seconds left and netted one of her two shots to solidify the win.
“Being down three starters is not easy to do,” PV coach Nadia Gauronsky said. “And I think our kids deserve a lot of credit in sticking together and working hard and doing what was necessary to win the game.”
Rosenberg’s performance was impressive. No matter how tightly the Timberwolves defended her, the 5-9 junior rose to the task and sank her shots.
“She did a great job. That was the best game she’s had all season,” Gauronsky said. “She played the game unselfishly. It came naturally to her. The points just came in the flow of the game, and that’s the way you want it to happen.”
North’s (4-12, 2-10 EPC) effort was outstanding despite the loss. Down 33-23 entering the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves charged for an 11-0 run to take a 34-33 lead with 1:41 remaining, capped by Selena Rivera’s 3-pointer.
Their energy is even more remarkable considering the junior varsity and varsity rosters combined are made up of nine girls. When they played Pleasant Valley on Jan. 20, that number was as low as seven.
“You’ve got to love these kids,” North coach Carly Gallagher said. “You’ve got to respect them. You’ve got to respect their character … because at the end of the day, they don’t need to do it. Seven kids, JV (and) varsity back to back? They could’ve called it quits. They could have hung up the shoes or said, ‘coach, I’m hurt.’
“But they fought through it and they earned my respect.”
PV is now just one win away from locking into the girls’ district tournament. Gauronsky is proud of her girls for proving their ability to adjust without three major players, but she knows they’ll need to keep that level of play high as the playoffs draw near.
“I want them to continue to work just as hard as they’re working and play together as a team,” Gauronsky said. “And that’s hard to do when you have so many young individuals because they’re trying to do the best that they can possibly do to maintain what we’ve established here.
“That’s tough, but it’ll benefit them in the long run I think.”
Pleasant Valley’s boys take the court again Saturday against North Schuykill at 7 p.m., and the Lady Bears travel to Allen for a 1 p.m. game Saturday.
ES North’s girls host Pen Argyl at 2 p.m. Saturday, while the boys are off until a Tuesday game against Pocono Mountain West.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Pleasant Valley 37, ES North 35
ES North 2 11 11 11 – 35
PV 5 14 7 11 – 37
ES North 35
Ensyobi 3 1-3 7, Mills 2 2-4 7, Richards 0 0-0 0, Lewis 0 0-0 0, Azemi 2 0-2 5, Aguiles 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Brown 3 4-8 10, Nelson 2 1-2 5, I. Abu 0 1-2 1. Totals: 12 9-21 35.
Pleasant Valley 37
Stivala 1 0-0 2, Howard 2 1-2 5, Gaddist 3 2-2 8, Neubert 1 0-0 3, Scarboro 2 7-8 11, Robinson 0 0-0 0, Rosario 1 0-0 3, Duviella 0 0-0 0, Burks 1 1-9 3, Smith 0 2-2 2. Totals: 11 13-21 37.
3-pointers: ESN 2 (Mills, Azemi); PV 2 (Neubert, Rosario).
Records: ES North 2-14, 1-10 EPC; Pleasant Valley 8-8, 4-7 EPC.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pleasant Valley 39, ES North 36
ES North 4 9 10 13 – 36
PV 14 8 11 6 – 39
ES North 36
Almodovar 1 0-0 2, John 2 2-2 6, Peterson 1 0-0 2, Wilson 3 0-0 6, Jean-Louis 0 0-0 0, Rivera 2 0-0 6, Stoddard 4 0-1 8, Mayes 2 2-2 6. Totals: 15 4-5 36.
Pleasant Valley 39
R. Wagner 0 0-0 0, O’Neil 1 2-2 5, B. Clark 1 2-6 5, Miller 0 0-2 0, A. Clark 3 0-0 7, Rosenberg 8 1-2 20, Francis 0 0-0 0, A. Wagner 0 0-0 0, Schwenck 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 6-11 39.
3-pointers: ESN 2 (Rivera 2); PV 5 (Rosenberg 2, O’Neil, B. Clark, A. Clark).
Records: ES North 4-12, 2-10 EPC; Pleasant Valley 10-6, 6-5 EPC.