Vikings charge through Storm
SARANAC LAKE — Saranac Lake’s girls basketball team faced a tough challenge when last year’s Class D state semifinalist Moriah visited the Red Storm gymnasium on Thursday.
And early on, it was evident that a turnover-plagued performance was going to get the job done against the Vikings.
With three players hitting in doubled figures, including a game-high 16 points from Makayla Stockwell, Moriah took down Saranac Lake 52-33 in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference action.
The Vikings converted three Red Storm turnovers into a 6-0 advantage just 73 seconds into the game and were never threatened on the way to improving to 5-1 overall.
After getting a single basket from Maggie Carpenter — a 3-pointer from the baseline — the Red Storm faced a 12-3 deficit after the first period, and trailed 26-10 at the half. Saranac Lake managed to close within 10 points early in the third, but another run of turnovers helped the Vikings pull away as the second half wore on.
Madison Olcott and McKenzie Sprague both tossed in 10 points in the Vikings’ victory.
Saranac Lake was paced by Kylee Clark and Roslyn McClatchie, who scored seven points each.
The Red Storm did manage to cut its deficit to 10 points during the third quarter, but the Vikings then took advantage of another rash of Red Storm mistakes to stretch their advantage to 41-16 heading into the final period.
With most of Moriah’s starters on the bench, Saranac Lake finally generated some offense in the fourth quarter and scored 17 points, which was one more than their cumulative total over the first three periods of the game.
“We had too many turnovers,” Saranac Lake head coach Frank Johns said. “In the third quarter we were within 10 points but kept making mistakes.”
Saranac Lake dropped to 1-2 with the loss and next plays on Thursday at Peru. Moriah’s next start will be on Tuesday at Northeastern Clinton.
—
Moriah 52, Saranac Lake 33
Vikings 12 14 15 11 — 52
Red Storm 3 7 6 17 — 32
Moriah (52)
Crossman 2-0-5, Orr 0-1-1, Perry 2-0-4, Marcil 2-0-4, Olcott 2-8-12, Stockwell 8-0-16, Peters 0-0-0, Sprague 3-3-10, White 0-0-0, Eichen 0-0-0. Totals: 19-12-52.
Saranac Lake (33)
Buckley 2-0-5, Merrill 2-0-4, Clark 3-0-7, McClatchie 3-0-7, Lincoln 1-1-3, McCormick 2-0-4, Carpenter 1-0-3, Newton 0-0-0, Rothaupt 0-0-0. Totals: 14-1-33.
Halftime: Moriah, 26-10.
3-point goals: Saranac Lake (4) Buckley, Clark, McClatchie, Carpenter. Moriah (2) Crossman, Sprague.