Pleasant Vy. girls, boys in first round games
Pleasant Valley’s girls and boys basketball teams will play in District 11 first round playoff games.
CLASS 6A GIRLS FIRST ROUND
No. 8 Pleasant Valley (13-9) vs. No. 9 p.m. West (10-12)
TIP-OFF – Tuesday, Feb. 20 at Pleasant Valley, 7 p.m.
COACHES – Pleasant Valley: Nadia Gauronsky (9th season). Pocono Mountain West: Stacy Perryman (12th season).
LEADING SCORERS – Pleasant Valley: Masani Francis (9.76), Madison Rosenberg (8.00), Cameron Caffrey (7.88). Pocono Mountain West: Pocono Mountain West: Jameeka Pilgrim (9.67), Paige Knecht (6.0), Caroline Weiricc (5.0).
GAME NOTES … Pleasant Valley and Pocono Mountain West split their two regular season meetings. But the Bears got the upper-hand in the last one, posting a decisive 61-47 victory in the regular season finale. The Panthers won the first game 58-40 on Jan. 3 … Pocono Mountain West’s first victory over Pleasant Valley put an end to the Bears’ four-game winning streak. Senior Eayoni Thompson scored a career-high 16 points for the Panthers … In Pleasant Valley’s victory in the season finale, Masani Francis scored a season-high 21 points. Thompson attempted two free throws and was held scoreless in the second meeting … The Pleasant Valley girls have made the district playoffs in six of the last seven seasons. The Bears did not qualify in 2015 … Pleasant Valley lost to Whitehall 53-40 in the first round of the district playoffs last season. In 2014, the Bears defeated Pocono Mountain East in the quarterfinals but fell to the Panthers in the semis. Pleasant Valley’s last district championship came in 2003. The Bears defeated Easton 37-29 for the title.
QUOTABLE – “Pocono Mountain West is a very similar team to us. We must contain their athleticism. Their weaknesses are their inside presence. If we can expose that, and get some looks inside that would benefit us greatly. The first time we played them I feel that our intensity was not where it needed to be and we were a bit inexperienced. I think a lot has changed for us from the beginning of the year till now. We were relying pretty heavily on some underclass to come in and play some valuable minutes for us. They had little to no experience from the beginning of the year. Due to injuries, they got a lot of experience and that has boosted our team as we have moved forward. This is my ninth year, and every time you make the playoffs its exciting, but to make it, and be successful with such a young group of girls, and girls who had to adjust into new roles, it brings a whole new level of excitement,” Pleasant Valley head coach Nadia Gauronsky.
CLASS 6A BOYS FIRST ROUND
No. 10 Pleasant Valley (11-11) vs. No. 7 Emmaus (12-10)
TIP-OFF — Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Emmaus, 7 p.m.
COACHES – Pleasant Valley: Matt Gould (4th season). Emmaus: Steve Yoder (10th season).
LEADING SCORERS – Pleasant Valley: Deshawn Scarboro (11.68), Isaiah Howard (9.42), Andrius Harrison-Gaddist (8.86). Emmaus: Zach Sabol (14.4), Bryce Diehl (14.1), Josh Artis (7.7). Emmaus: Zach Sabol (14.4), Bryce Diehl (14.1), Josh Artis (7.5).
GAME NOTES … Pleasant Valley finished the regular season on a three-game losing streak. The slide followed a three-game winning streak, which was capped off with a 37-36 win over Stroudsburg on Feb. 2 that secured the Bears’ spot in the district playoffs … Emmaus is coming off a remarkable run in the postseason a year ago. The Green Hornets made it to the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinals and district semis before beating Cheltenham 68-67 and Harrisburg 64-61 in the state tournament. The run ended with a 78-74 loss to Carlisle in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals ... David Kachelries was the focal point of the Emmaus offense during his stellar career. He finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,910 points. Kachelries is currently at Division 1 NJIT … Emmaus defeated Pleasant Valley 62-42 this season (Jan. 19). The Bears went on a three-game winning streak after the loss … Pleasant Valley’s last postseason victory was a 59-52 triumph over the Green Hornets in the first round in 2006 … Emmaus has great length. Zach Sabol (6-8), Josh Artis (6-6) and (Bryce Diehl (6-5) spearhead a lineup that can give opposing coaches nightmares ... This season marks the 20th anniversary of Pleasant Valley’s last district title, in 1998. … The Bears are 2-10 in their last 12 district playoff games ... Emmaus struggled in the middle of the season when Sabol went down with a high ankle. He was out about four weeks ... Emmaus needed to win two of their last three to get to districts and they won all three, beating Nazareth, Whitehall and Stroudsburg.
QUOTABLE – “They have size inside, and their guards are solid all around. They don’t have one single player that is going to beat you, they win as a team, and that is what makes them tough. They are a unique team, they are the biggest team we have seen all year, so that makes it difficult to scout and prepare for. Emmaus came out and took it to us that first meeting. We are focusing on playing 32 minutes of good solid basketball. If we can do that anything can happen. Making districts was one of our goals this year, so it is nice for our guys to take that step. The district is wide open, we need to continue to be focused and ready to work. If we come out lackadaisical and not focused it’ll be one and done,” Pleasant Valley head coach Matt Gould.
