The last time Pleasant Valley boys basketball team defeated Stroudsburg was back on Feb. 7, 2014.

The last time that the Bears made districts was the 2012-13 season.

For head coach Matt Gould, a deep sigh of relief was earned Friday night, as his squad edged the Mounties 37-36, putting an end to both of those dry spells.

With the victory, the Bears clinch a district playoff berth and also have a shot at making the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference league playoffs.

“It’s definitely a weight off our shoulders as a program,” Gould said. “(Districts) was one of our goals that we set at the beginning of the year, along with making league playoffs, which we can still potentially get in, if things work out our way.”

Despite maintaining control throughout the majority of the contest, the Bears (11-8 overall), needed to withstand a fourth-quarter comeback by Stroudsburg and the high-scoring Saveon Jackson, who finished with a game-high 21 points.

“I have to give our guys a lot of credit because they kept fighting,” Gould said. “There were a lot of times at the end of the game where we got to the foul line for a one and one and we wanted to call a timeout to set up defensively, but we missed some of those. But the kids got back and set up and it worked out in the end.”

Stroudsburg’s Jackson scored nine of his points in the final eight minutes to lead the comeback, which the Bears fended off with some big shots.

Noah Neubert’s free throws with 2:47 left gave the Bears a 31-27 edge, but a deep trey from Jackson made it a one-point game.

The Bears’ Isaiah Howard responded, pulling up from the right elbow extended for a big three with under two minutes left. A Jackson layup was countered by a Deshawn Scarboro free throw with 39 remaining that had PV ahead 35-32.

The Mounts’ Colin Brady put in a layup to once again make it a one-point game. The Mounties were forced to foul Howard, who stepped to the line with confidence and hit them both.

“I knew I was going to make them,” Howard said afterward. “I just knew I had to knock them down.”

A baseline jumper by Jackson with 19 seconds left was all that Stroudsburg could get the rest of the way, as a last-second half-court attempt was well off target.

“It feels amazing,” Howard said. “To beat Stroudsburg is a great honor because we haven’t beaten them since 2014. So it’s a big accomplishment.”

Howard and Scarboro finished the game with 10 points for the winners, while Jackson’s 21 was tops for the Mounties.

Pleasant Valley also won the JV contest, 43-35, as James Stewart finished with 18.

BEARS BIG ON BOARDS

... With four of PV’s top six players being taller than 6-3, Gould’s group naturally has a distinct advantage in the rebounding department. Against Stroudsburg, they had a 32-20 edge in boards, including 11 offensive.

A RATHER PLEASANT NIGHT ...

It was an overall outstanding evening for Pleasant Valley basketball, as it was a boys-girls varsity doubleheader, with both teams earning district playoff berths with wins, while it was also the Bears’ Hall of Fame Induction Night.

WHAT’S LEFT?

... The Bears continue their hopes for a league playoff spot, as their three remaining games are realistically winnable, according to Gould. “We have Whitehall tomorrow, Freedom on Monday and we finish up with (Pocono Mountain) West on Wednesday, so they are all winnable games, but we still have to go out and get the job done,” Gould said.

STROUDSBURG

Sadler 0-0-0-0, Strouse 0-0-0-0, Jackson 7-4-4-21, Ogrodniczuk 1-0-0-2, Ferreras 0-0-0-0, Adams 0-0-0-0, Brady 3-1-3-7, Card 0-0-0-0, Kettrles 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 14-5-7-36.

PLEASANT VALLEY

Stivala 3-1-2-7, Howard 4-2-2-10, Harrison-Gaddist 2-0-0-4, Neubert 2-2-2-6, Scarboro 4-1-5-10, Duviello 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-6-11-37.

Stroudsburg 4 10 7 15 - 36

Pleasant Valley 10 8 8 11 - 37

Three pointers: S - Jackson 3; PV - Scarboro 1.