After a loss to Crestwood Friday night, Pleasant Valley's Nadia Gauronsky was happy to see her team respond the way it did.

On a team loaded with youth, the Bears turned to a pair of veterans to lead the way.Three-year starter Masani Francis and senior Joyce Sullivan produced in the clutch, helping the Bears edge Lehighton, 55-52, in a non-league game."This is a confidence-booster," Gauronsky said. "We are a young team, so I knew there would be growing pains."In a game that saw five ties and 15 lead changes, the Bears produced when it mattered as they took the lead for good with 57 seconds remaining on a Sullivan three. From that point on, the senior went 3-for-4 from the free throw line to ice the win."I would say Joyce Sullivan and Masani Francis need to be leaders down the stretch," Gauronsky said. "Early on in the season, it's nice to see them take that leadership role. It's what I expect of them."After Sullivan's free throws had stretched the Bears' lead to three, Lehighton had a chance to tie it, but a three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short."It was a slugfest out there tonight, and it was fun to watch and fun to coach," Lehighton head coach Eric Gidney said. "One of these games, we're going to be able to put together four whole quarters of solid play."After taking a 4-0 lead to start the game, the Tribe went cold as they remained stuck at four points for over nine minutes of play. That allowed Pleasant Valley to build a 14-4 lead with 4:55 left in the second quarter. But Lehighton spurted late to pull to within 21-18 at the break.In the second half, the players' rhythm began to show and the two sides matched each other offensively.A baseline drive by Jada Whiteman and a fast break lay-up by Aubrey Blasiak immediately gave the Tribe the lead out of the halftime gates. From that point on, there were eight lead changes, before the late-game heroics by Sullivan and company."It's nice to see a young team like we have respond the way they did," Gauronsky said. "I was disappointed in the way we played Friday night, but then to see them play better against a better team like Lehighton, is nice."JOYCE TO THE WORLD ... The most impressive thing about Sullivan's late three-pointer was that she missed a few attempts earlier in the fourth frame, yet still fired away with confidence. "It feels good to get the win," Sullivan said. "As a senior, I should be able to step up when it matters and make some big shots."WHAT A REJECT?!?! ... Following Sullivan's triple, which put the Bears up 52-50, Lehighton came down and attacked the Bear defense. However, 6-2 Ashley Schwenk came up with a block on the baseline. Schwenk affected shots in the paint all evening.TOP GUNS ... Lehighton's Aubrey Blasiak led all scorers in the game with 18 points, including four triples. Skylynn Faust followed with 17. The winners saw Francis total 16, Mikaela Miller add 10, and Schwenk finish with nine points and 11 rebounds.PRELIM ROUT ... Pleasant Valley rolled to a 42-17 JV win. Brianna Clark's 12 points and Ashley Bolds' 10 led the winners. Carlee Young had 13 for the Tribe.PLEASANT VALLEYSullivan 1-4-7-7, Covart 0-0-0-0, Miller 3-4-6-10, Rosenberg 1-2-2-5, Francis 6-3-7-16, Borden 0-2-2-2, Caffrey 2-0-1-6, Schwenk 4-1-2-9, Salmon 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-16-25-55.LEHIGHTONFrey 1-2-2-4, Long 2-0-0-5, Whiteman 3-0-0-6, Blasiak 7-0-1-18, Miller 0-0-0-0, Faust 6-3-4-17, Buchinsky 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 20-5-7-52.Pleasant Valley 9 12 14 20 - 55Lehighton 4 14 17 17 - 52Three pointers: PV - Caffrey 2, Francis, Rosenberg, Sullivan; L - Blasiak 4, Faust 2, Long.