Stroudsburg knocks off Pleasant Vy.
Matt Field might not have wanted to put too much emphasis on a late December game.
But the Stroudsburg head coach knew a win against unbeaten Pleasant Valley could be a big boost for his team before the calendar turns over.
And the Mounties delivered.
Stroudsburg notched an early season statement victory in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference play, knocking off the Bears 50-34 Friday night.
“For us, it’s really big,” said Field. “We had this penciled on our calendar just from last year. They really played well against us in two games, and they beat us by a lot – we lost by 25 and 27 last year. But we have a bunch of girls back that are upperclassmen — we have eight seniors.
“This is something where they felt like we were pretty similarly matched, and that shouldn’t happen. And they wanted to make sure that we had a better plan of attack, and they played with confidence. For us, I was happy that we were able to get that result. We were focused on that.”
The Mounties (7-1, 4-1) pulled away in the second half, outscoring Pleasant Valley 32-15 over the final two quarters.
Junior Emily Strunk was a force in the post and showed her versatility by knocking down key shots, leading Stroudsburg with a game-high 25 points – including 16 after the intermission.
“When you have a player as talented as Strunk, who can go on the outside and she can use her body well, it’s going to hurt us,” said Bears’ head coach Nadia Pavuk. “Their guards are capable of handling our pressure, and they’re a good basketball team. We just have to do a better job not getting beat by their big.”
Defensively, Stroudsburg was able to keep the Bears (5-1, 3-1) off balance and out of rhythm.
“They have a lot of experience and girls that are really good at penetrating and either getting to the rim, or being able to kick out to an open shooter,” Field said. “When we played them last year, we played zone, and they had really good ball movement. This year, we just felt like if we matched up girl-to-girl that we could compete with everybody at all five spots, and that might make it tougher for them to move the ball and penetrate.
“I was really happy that once we stopped fouling, that we just moved our feet and made things difficult for them and tried to contest everything, get rebounds and possessions. That was big for us, because even though they’re small, they’re really good for their size about getting into the basket and getting putbacks.”
Pleasant Valley had just five field goals in the second half, and went 5-of-18 from the foul line.
The Bears used a 5-0 run at the end of the second quarter to take a 19-18 lead into halftime. After a basket from Strunk to open the third quarter put the Mounties back in front, a free throw from Riley Wagner and a basket from Alyssa Wagner put PV ahead 22-20.
It was the last advantage the Bears would hold, as Stroudsburg surged to a 30-22 lead with a 10-0 run that ended with 4:49 left in the third quarter.
“I think our first half was indicative of who we are as a basketball team and what our potential is,” said Pavuk. “So we have to capitalize on that and do the things we were doing in the first half, and not let the game run away from us ... but I think that will come.”
Riley Wagner finished with 12 points, while Alyssa Wagner added nine.
JV ... Stroudsburg won the JV game, 62-32.
FAR FROM FREE ... Pleasant Valley finished the contest 8-of-29 from the free throw line, while Stroudsburg went 14-for-28.
STROUDSBURG
Columna 1-3-6-5, Strunk 11-2-6-25, Francis 2-2-3-6, Card 0-4-5-4, K. Worsley-Wooten 0-2-4-2, Hock 1-0-0-2, M. Worsley-Wooten 2-1-4-6, Correia 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-14-28-50.
PLEASANT VALLEY
R. Wagner 4-3-11-12, Caffrey 2-1-4-5, O’Neil 1-1-2-3, A. Wagner 3-2-8-9, Muir 0-0-0-0, Arndt 0-1-4-1, Morgan 0-0-0-0, Merklin 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 12-8-29-34.
Stroudsburg 10 8 19 13 - 50
Pleasant Vy. 8 11 6 9 - 34
Three-pointers: Stroudsburg - Strunk 1, M. Worsley-Wooten 1. Pleasant Valley - R. Wagner 1, A. Wagner 1.
