Pleasant Valley had a difficult non-league schedule to open the season.

Several tough losses to quality opponents has left the Bears with a losing record and battling for their playoff lives.But future teams on Pleasant Valley's schedule need to be aware that its record could be deceiving.Pocono Mountain East found that out Thursday as the Bears pulled out a 44-39 win.Three Masani Francis triples opened up an early lead for the Bears (5-8) as they went on to hold off the Cardinals for the hard-fought victory."It was what we needed because we can always use that jump start," senior point guard Kiki Russell said. "Especially against a good team like this. We needed that confidence booster to knock them down a bit."Consecutive trifectas from the right corner provided the winners with the early 6-2 lead, before East battled back. However Francis' third trey helped her team move out to an 11-6 lead after one."I thought Masani hitting those shots early on were huge and they really helped us out," Pleasant Valley head coach Nadia Gauronsky said.During that crucial first frame, Rose Haller's Lady Cardinals (8-5) made some uncharacteristic turnovers to detract from their cause."You have to give credit to Pleasant Valley's defense because they force you to look away from the basket," Haller said. "But we just can't seem to get five kids on the floor that are all on the same page, and I think we're definitely a better team than we showed tonight."Senior center Renee Milos put back two shots from underneath to keep in front during the second quarter.In the third, Kiki Russell's consecutive layups got the Lady Bears off to a strong start as they built a 34-22 lead.In the fourth, East continued to chip away at that lead and eventually made things interesting late. After Francis converted on a free throw with 2:43 left, a 6-0 run by the Cardinals cut the lead to 39-36 with 1:27 left.However, Russell, Francis and Natalia Salmon combined to go 5-for-8 from the free throw line to ice it."Being a varsity player for four years, I know I've been trained for those types of situations," Russell said. "I want the ball in my hands because that's what I'm out there for and in crunch time, I know what has to be done."With some important games on the horizon, Gauronsky is hoping to maintain the momentum in the right direction."We have one more practice before we play against East Stroudsburg North, and we're working on taking better care of the ball," the coach said. "The errors are careless errors and the mistakes that we make are not forced. They get silly with possessions out there, so hopefully as the season progresses, we can continue to improve on that."'KIKIS' TO SUCCESS ... The Lady Bears are hoping to continue with their winning ways, after opening up the season with some tough losses. "Everyone has been underestimating us and we started out the season with a difficult schedule," Russell said. "This was a game to prove ourselves that Pleasant Valley is a legitimate team."NO DIFFERENCE ... Statistically, the two sides were relatively close as Pleasant Valley held a 30-29 edge on the boards while committing two more turnovers in the contest (19-17).PM EASTThomas 0-0-0-0, Haller 0-0-0-0, Caldwell 7-1-2-15, Mader 2-5-10-11, LaDuke 2-2-2-6, Ellerbee 2-3-6-7, Fernandez 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-11-39-39.PLEASANT VALLEYBorger 1-2-4-4, Miller 3-0-0-6, Francis 3-4-6-13, Borden 1-0-0-3, Russell 3-3-6-9, Salmon 1-2-5-4, Milos 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 14-12-19-44.Pocono Mt East 6 7 9 17 - 39Pleasant Valley 11 7 16 10 - 44Three pointers: PME - Mader 2; PV - Francis 3, Borden 1.