The Pleasant Valley girls' basketball team showed flashes of brilliance Friday night against Whitehall.

But the Bears couldn't do it for four quarters.Pleasant Valley's late rally came up just short, as the Zephyrs held on for a 42-40 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory."I think the kids started looking inside and going back to the original game plan, which we knew we were taller than them and could get the ball inside," said Bears' head coach Nadia Gauronsky. "But we got away from that in the third quarter because we're a young team."Whitehall utilized an 10-0 run that spanned the final 3:48 of the third quarter and stretched into the fourth period when Alix Buskirk scored with 7:40 remaining to make it 40-28, in what turned out to be the Zephyrs only field goal of the quarter.Pleasant Valley responded with an 11-0 surge that cut the deficit to 40-37 with 2:25 to play when Masani Francis (11 points) nailed a three."They got after us," said Whitehall head coach Dwight Repsher. "They got after us and started putting some pressure on the ball and we started going too fast, and then we didn't execute stuff. They got into a little bit of a rhythm and made a couple threes and all of a sudden it's a game."We're a little young, and that's a part of being a young team. I thought we did a nice job to get the 12 point lead, and I thought PV did a really nice job of coming back and they got after us and we got back on our heels. We got lucky they missed the next to the last three. I thought that was in."The Zephyrs' defense might have bent, but it didn't break as the Bears were unable to get any closer until the buzzer.After Kylee Cunningham (13 points) sank both of her free throws to make it 42-37, Joyce Sullivan nailed a three at the buzzer for the final tally.Sullivan hit two of Pleasant Valley's four three pointers in the game, as Francis and freshman Cameron Caffrey (seven points) also provided support from the outside, something Gauronsky thought would open up if the Bears could work the ball inside."I thought we were bigger than them and I thought having Cam Caffrey and Masani Francis, who could shoot the ball, we would be OK," the coach said. "And we were OK. But we got away from what the game plan was, and it's just young kids get away from what veterans know to do."Despite the loss, Gauronsky was happy with the effort at the end."I was proud of the kids and the effort they showed in the fourth quarter to rally and come back," she said. "They never quit on the game. But they have to put together four quarters and they have to stick to the game plan."Ashley Schwenck added six points for Pleasant Valley, which trailed 27-21 at halftime.REMATCH… Whitehall earned a 53-40 win over the Bears in the first round of the District 11 Class AAAA playoffs last season.WINNERS… Pleasant Valley won the JV game, 45-35.WHITEHALLCunningham 4-2-2-13, George 2-0-0-4, Smith 2-1-2-6, Buskirk 3-0-2-6, Clary 0-0-0-0, Dietz 0-0-0-0, Rummel 3-1-2-9, Hines 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 16-3-8-42.PLEASANT VALLEYSullivan 2-0-0-6, Clark 0-0-0-0, Covart 0-0-0-0, Miller 0-0-0-0, Rosenberg 0-1-2-1, Francis 5-0-0-11, Borden 0-1-2-1, Caffrey 3-0-0-7, Schwenck 2-2-2-6, Salmon 3-2-2-8. TOTALS: 15-6-8-40.Whitehall 16 11 11 4 - 42Pleasant Vy. 11 10 5 14 - 40Three pointers: Whitehall - Cunningham 3, Rummel 2, Smith 1; Pleasant Valley - Sullivan 2, Francis 1, Caffrey 1.