It wasn’t the outcome he wanted to see, but it was the fight and spirit first-year Pleasant Valley girls basketball coach Dan Muir was looking for.

The Bears battled Pocono Mountain East, erasing an early deficit, before falling 34-30 in Saturday’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference contest.

Pleasant Valley (0-4) trailed 16-11 midway through the second quarter, before a 12-2 run to close out the period gave the Bears a 23-18 advantage at halftime.

They wouldn’t trail until Isabella Horvath put the Cardinals (4-0) up 31-30 with the go-ahead basket with 2:26 remaining in the game.

Horvath paced PM East with a game-high 15 points.

“That’s the most inspiring thing, that every game we’ve improved and gotten closer to a win,” said Muir. “We played well throughout much of the game. We scratched, we clawed.

“And at the end of the first half, we had all the momentum.”

Horvath had scored nine points in the first frame to give the Cardinals a 12-11 lead.

But the Bears chipped away in the second quarter, starting their run on a basket by junior Sam Merklin after a turnover to trim the deficit to 16-13.

Drew Morgan scored eight straight points, and Merklin added another basket to give Pleasant Valley a five-point lead at the break.

“This was a huge game for Drew, she played awesome,” Muir said. “She made some great shots and played awesome defense. It was huge for her, and huge for our team, because we needed another person to step up, and she has that experience as a junior.

“It was awesome to see her have a great game today.”

Morgan finished with 12 points. Ella Muir added six points, including a three-pointer at the end of the first, to make it a one-point game.

The offense stalled in the third quarter as the Cardinals cranked up the pressure on defense with their press.

A 5-0 run tied it at 23 midway through the third period before Morgan buried a trey to put PV ahead 26-23 with 3:40 to play.

East tied it again, this time at 26, early in the fourth. But freshman Katelyn Honadel (five points) nailed a three-pointer to make it 29-26 with 6:25 left in the contest.

After being held to one point in the second and third quarters, Horvath scored five in the fourth.

Her eventual game-winner started a 5-0 run to close out the game.

“Being one of our senior leaders, and just her natural athleticism and height and length, we have really shown her over the years what it can bring to the table,” Cardinals coach Adriana Johnson said of Horvath. “And I think now she is starting to see it more vividly, and starting to take advantage of it.

“She’s starting to have more and more confidence. And her defense helps her get that momentum offensively.”

East outscored the Bears 16-7 in the second half, allowing just two field goals.

Zoe Cruz finished with nine points for the Cardinals.

“I’m just so proud of them,” said Muir. “That’s the best they’ve played all season. But now we have to get better, and we will. I have no doubt about that.”

FOUL TROUBLE … While the Cardinals had just four field goals in the second half, they made it to the free-throw line 25 times, but converted just eight of those opportunities. East went 12-of-32 from the free-throw line in the game.

GETTING BETTER … The Bears dropped their first two games of the season to PM West, 49-32 and 51-30. But they came up short in two meetings against the Cardinals by a combined 13 points. East defeated Pleasant Valley 28-19 Thursday in their first of the two meetings this season.

UP NEXT … Pleasant Valley hosts East Stroudsburg South Tuesday, while East visits Stroudsburg.

PM EAST

Hayden 0-1-4-1, Smith 0-0-0-0, Cruz 4-1-6-9, Jackson 0-0-0-0, Dudley 1-3-6-5, Horvath 5-5-10-15, Feyjoo 0-0-0-0, South 1-2-6-4, Soller 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-12-32-34.

PLEASANT VALLEY

Williams 0-0-0-0, Gaddist 0-0-0-0, Muir 2-0-0-6, Honadel 2-0-0-5, Morgan 4-2-4-12, Merklin 2-0-0-4, Fougere 0-0-0-0, Mattson 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 11-3-6-30.

PM East 12 6 6 10 - 34

Pleasant Vy. 11 12 3 4 - 30

Three-pointers: PM East - None; Pleasant Valley - Muir 2, Morgan 2, Honadel 1.