Pleasant Valley and Stroudsburg battled it out on the hardwood Thursday night.

But, like many area teams, were on the court for the first time in days due to this week’s storm.

As expected with the layoff, offense was tough to come by, as the Bears and Mounties exchanged the lead several times in the second half.

In the end, though, it was Stroudsburg’s guard play, along with its ability to attack the basket, that helped it escape Brodheadsville with a narrow 41-40 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Mountain Division victory.

The Mounties’ physicality attacking the rim early in the contest got them a nine-point lead with 7:14 remaining in the second quarter. Jahkai Barnes was the aggressor during that span, scoring six points, all by getting to the tin.

The Stroudsburg pressure defense was also key to the team’s early success, causing six turnovers in the first quarter.

“This was a battle. For us, I think we showed a lot of growth tonight,” said Stroudsburg head coach Matt Gallagher, whose team improved to 4-0. “We have two of the best guards in the area in Jahkai Barnes and Qadir Mitchell, and our goal offensively is always to attack the rim and get to the foul line.”

Pleasant Valley (1-6) eventually settled in, going on a 7-0 run late in the second quarter to close within two with 1:14 remaining in the first half. Two buckets by Jarod Moore, and a triple by Donald Francois, gave the Bears momentum heading into intermission.

“We had a few days off in a row like everyone else, and that was the first time a lot of our guys were playing on television, and you could see they were a little nervous,” said Pleasant Valley head coach Bobby Hahn.

“The lack of practice time over the past few days really had the pace of this game going a little fast, but when we settled in a little, we found our rotation and we found what was working for us. The kids really played tough throughout.”

The Bears took advantage of the momentum they created late in the second quarter, taking their first lead at the 6:14 mark of the third. Francois, a junior, came up big for Pleasant Valley in the second half. He hit three treys, scoring 16 of his game-high 19 points over the final two periods.

The two squads exchanged blows throughout the third and fourth quarters, and neither team would hold more than a three-point advantage the rest of the way.

Late in the fourth, with Stroudsburg trailing by one, the Mounties ability to get to the rim once again proved important. A Barnes deuce floated off the back board and in with 11 seconds remaining.

The game would then come down to a Bears inbound play under their own basket with a little under five seconds remaining, but their shot attempt was blocked.

“We were thinking of going man there at the end, but we switched it up a little bit and our kids made the play to pull it out,” said Gallagher. “Our kids just battled. Both teams did.”

LEADERS … Francois led with 19 and Joel Contreras added 10. For the Mounties, Barnes scored 16 and Alex Santos added 10.

STROUDSBURG

Barnes 4-8-9-16, Santos 4-0-0-10, Shenery 3-0-0-6, Mitchell 2-1-3-6, Kornegay 1-0-0-3, Duffy 0-0-0-0, Bruzzese 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 14-9-13-41.

PLEASANT VALLEY

Francois Jr. 5-5-6-19, Contreras 2-5-7-10, Moore 3-0-0-6, Hargrow 1-1-2-3, Telepo 1-0-0-2, Knudsen 0-0-0-0, Arce 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-11-15-40.

Stroudsburg 15 5 6 15 - 41

Pleasant Vy. 9 7 13 11 - 40

Three-pointers: Stroudsburg - Santos 2, Mitchell 1, Kornegay 1; Pleasant Valley - Francois 4, Contreas 1.