Jim Thorpe experienced Pleasant Valley's defensive pressure firsthand yesterday, and realized what most of the Bears' opponents have ... it works.

That pressure not only limited Jim Thorpe to 14 first-half points, but eventually helped to pull out a 62-49 non-league win."It's big to get the win and we knew we had an opportunity to come out with one here, but we would need to work hard together as a team," Pleasant Valley head coach Matt Gould said. "In the first half, we held them and essentially it was enough to win the game."The Olympians (3-4) eventually relaxed and figured out the answer as they battled back to make things interesting late. However, the Bears (4-3) got a huge effort from Isaiah Howard, who drilled five triples for a game-high 19 points."(Howard) played well for us," Gould said. "He made some big shots and has been shooting well for us this season. He's not the biggest guy and he takes his bumps, but he really stepped up for us today."The Bears opened up with a 13-9 first frame edge, as Chris Barker dished out three assists on high-low pick-and-rolls.The Bear defense forced six turnovers in the second session, helping to balloon the lead to 26-14 at the break."I thought we let their pressure dictate the course of the game early on," Jim Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle said. "When we finally calmed down in the second half and early in the fourth, we handled it much better. But we have to find a way to put together four full quarters of play."A 6-0 run by the winners started the third and another 6-0 spree midway helped them take a 41-25 lead with eight minutes remaining."Just looking at the tape of (Thorpe), they run their stuff well and have a couple of guys who can shoot, so our defensive effort tonight was great," said Gould."The Bears eventually held a 48-27 lead with 6:43 left after some Barker free throws. However, the hosts responded with a 9-1 run, including four Chris Micciche points, to cut it to 12 with just under five to play.The Bears withstood the rally and proved to have too big of a lead for Thorpe to overcome."The way we played defense in the first half today, that always needs to be there," Gould said. "There's no excuse for anything else. On offense, we realize we're not going to make every shot, but the defensive intensity can always be there."Gould hopes his squad maintains that level of play, as the new year brings strong competition."We're taking the steps that we need to in order to progress as the year moves along. Hopefully, the guys continue to buy into it and we continue to do what we need to do in order to make it to districts.""We can be a very good team, and we can be a very bad team at times," McElmoyle said. "Lately, we're both in every game. We're in a similar position now, as we were in at this point last year, so we can still get things on the right track."Howard's 19 points topped all scorers, while teammate Jaison Robinson added 12 and Justin Richardson had 11.For Thorpe, Matt Elmore's 17 and Aaron Joyce's 12 led the way.EVEN STEVENS ... Pleasant Valley held a slim 33-32 edge on the glass, but had 17 offensive boards which led to some easy follows. Thorpe had 18 turnovers, while the Bears committed 20.LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN ... Both Pleasant Valley and Jim Thorpe are opening up the new year with the brunt of their respective league schedules. With seven games under both each teams' belts, coaches and fans alike are hoping for positives.STRONG EFFORTS ... Jim Thorpe's JV team continued their strong season as they improved to 6-1 on the year with a 52-45 preliminary win. Justin Marykwas had 21 points for the winners.PLEASANT VALLEYAulder 0-1-2-1, Robinson 5-2-4-12, Barker 3-3-4-9, Stivala 0-0-2-0, Howard 6-3-5-19, Richardson 4-3-3-11, Neubert 1-0-2-2, Scarboro 0-0-0-0, Gerolimatos 2-0-0-4, Prator 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 23-12-22-62.JIM THORPECarroll 3-1-2-8, Samuel 0-0-0-0, Elmore 4-9-9-17, Micciche 2-4-9-8, Searfoss 0-0-0-0, Joyce 4-2-2-12, Marykwas 1-0-0-2, Na. Rosahac 0-0-0-0, Ni. Rosahac 0-2-6-2, Fikentscher 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-18-28-49.Pleasant Vy. 13 13 15 21 - 62Jim Thorpe 9 5 11 24 - 49Three pointers: Pleasant Valley - Howard 5; Jim Thorpe - Joyce 2, Carroll 1.