Pleasant Valley's Masani Francis might only be a junior, but the leadership, responsibility and perseverance she displays on the court aided her team's 37-34 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference win over Pocono Mountain West on Tuesday.

Her steal and lay-up ended the third period to give the hosts a 32-22 lead. However, the Lady Panthers picked up their defense and held the Bears scoreless for the first seven minutes of the fourth. That stretch, capped by Drina Baptiste's put-back, tied the score at 32-apiece with 2:35 remaining in the game.With Francis running the point, she faced constant attacking pressure and held her own, before eventually drawing a foul with 34 seconds left.After converting both charity tosses, she swiped a Panther pass at mid-court and raced in for a lay-up to provide the winners with a 36-32 advantage.Senior Joyce Sullivan added a free throw with 10 ticks to go, before Baptiste's three-point attempt at the buzzer came up well short."The scoring drought really affected us and that's a compliment to their defense," Pleasant Valley head coach Nadia Gauronsky said."I just tried to block everyone and everything out and make the foul shots," Francis added. "We needed the ball at the end of the game, and I knew if I played good defense, the opportunity would come up, so I got that steal."In the early-going, the contest looked appeared destined for a low-scoring affair, but the Bears (4-5), used a 22-point second frame to take a 27-15 lead at the break.But, the Panthers never backed down, and picked up their aggression to force the thrilling finish."I think it was nice to see the girls come together and get it done at the end of the game, but it would be nice to see them play a full four quarters, because these lapses can't happen," said Gauronsky.Francis led the winners in scoring with 13 points, while Mikaela Miller followed with eight. For the Lady Panthers, Baptiste tallied 12.OFFICIAL WORKOUT ... In the contest, the two sides combined for a total of 68 turnovers. The youth on both teams, along with strong defense by both squads, contributed to the total.SWEEP PREVENTION ... The junior Panthers prevailed in the JV contest, 46-42, despite 13 points apiece from PV's Madison Rosenberg and Alexa Clark.POCONO MTN. WESTGerling 0-1-2-1, Weirich 0-0-0-0, Pilgrim 3-1-1-7, Knecht 0-0-0-0, McGee 3-0-0-6, Marshall 0-0-0-0, Wiggins 2-2-3-6, Baptiste 4-4-5-12, McClain 0-0-0-0, Leonard 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 13-8-11-34.PLEASANT VALLEYSullivan 2-1-4-6, Covart 0-0-0-0, Miller 4-0-0-8, Rosenberg 0-0-0-0, Francis 5-3-6-13, Borden 0-0-0-0, Caffrey 1-0-0-3, Schwenk 1-1-2-3, Salmon 1-2-6-4. TOTALS: 14-7-18-37.PM West 7 8 7 12 - 34Pleasant Valley 5 22 5 5 - 37Three pointers: PM West - None; Pleasant Valley - Caffrey 1, Sullivan 1.