After losing six experienced seniors, Pleasant Valley head coach Matt Gould knew there would be days like these. For the second straight game, his Bear basketball team went cold after a strong start as Northampton pulled away for a 61-44 East Penn Conference victory on Tuesday night.

Northampton's Mario Deklar scored with 3:39 left in the first quarter to cap a stretch where both teams struggled offensively. They were the first points of the game and that seemed to suit the Bears just fine. Elijah Munford, Alex Gerolimatos, and Romello Smaltz each drained three-pointers and it seemed as if Pleasant Valley hit its stride leading 9-5 with just over a minute left in the quarter.It was at this point the lid was placed on the basket and turnovers led to defensive break downs resulting in a 19-1 Konkrete Kid run over a seven-minute span."I knew there would be times where we were going to struggle scoring," Gould said, "but we told the guys from day one that you still have to play defense."The young Bear squad let the proverbial snowball roll downhill. When they did not turn the ball over, they did get open shots, including a number of layups that just refused to fall."We make a few of those layups and get to the foul line it stops the run," Gould said acknowledging that the game would have been much closer if the run could have thwarted.Down 10 points at half, a quick bucket by the Bears' Lucas Schaffner cut the score to 37-29 but that is as close as it they would get. Three turnovers returned the momentum to Northampton. Tanner Hahn drained a pair of three-pointers that fueled their 12-3 run that put the game away."We lose focus a little bit and that happens with a young team," Gould said. "It's little things that we need to work on."SLOW START ... A slow start led to a scoreless tie early on. With two minutes left in the quarter, the two teams had combined for more fouls (4) than baskets (3)LEAD SCORER ... The Bears' Munford led all scorers with 16 points. The sophomore hit deep, drove to the lane and created excitement. "He gets to the basket well, and he hit a couple of pull up jump shots," Gould said "He has some potential if he continues to do that."BANGIN' ON THE BOARDS - Gould pointed out that Connor Pandolfo, Lucas Schaffner, and Ian Prater did a great job battling Northampton's big man, Morgan Heffelfinger.TIS' THE SEASON… - Pleasant Valley (0-2) is in a giving mood as the holiday season approaches. A mistake filled game against Nazareth in their opener was followed up with a 19-turnover effort last night. "When we win, and we will win. We will win ugly," Gould said.NORTHAMPTONMario Deklar 3-1-1-8, Morgan Heffelfinger 4-3-4-11, Joseph Tocci 0-0-0-0, Jahmari Austin 1-0-0-2, Bryan Morris 5-0-0-12, James Frazier 2-0-0-4, Noah Rindock 2-1-2-5, Tyler Miller 4-1-3-9, Tanner Hahn 3-1-3-10. TOTALS: 24-7-13-61PLEASANT VALLEYSmaltz 2-0-0-6, Aulder 1-0-0-3, Barker 1-0-0-2, Munford 6-3-4-16, Howard 1-0-0-3, Schaffner 1-1-2-3,Mitchell 0-0-0-0, Gerolimatos 3-0-0-9, Prator 1-0-0-2, Pandolfo 0-0-0-0, Stuvala 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-4-6-44Northampton 11 16 16 18 - 61Pleasant Valley 9 8 11 16 - 44Three-Pointers: Northampton - Hahn 3, Morris 2, Deklar 1; Pleasant Valley - Gerolimatos 3, Smaltz 2, Aulder 1, Munford 1, Howard 1.