That all changed when NCCC switched ends of the court for the second half. With Romeira Tucker leading the charge, the Saints erupted for 32 points in the third quarter and cruised to a 69-49 victory over the Vikings. Tucker, one of six Saints sophomores playing for the last time on their home court, dumped in a team-high 20 points as NCCC improved to 17-9 with one game remaining before the playoffs.

Tucker and her teammates were a miserable 2-for-18 from three-point range in the opening half, but they defended well enough to take a 23-14 lead into the intermission. Shooting at the end of the court where she feels more comfortable, Tucker knocked down four 3-pointers, including three straight, during a third quarter that saw the Saints extend their lead to 36 points before the Vikings were able to close the gap slightly down the stretch.

NCCC center Brooke Howell also finished in double figures with 11 points in a game that saw 10 Saints get in on the scoring against a Hudson Valley squad left shorthanded by injuries, including an ACL tear suffered by its top player.

“The third quarter is always our best quarter,” said Tucker, who hails from Philadelphia and will be attending Delaware State next fall. “This end of the court is where I practice, so once I get to this end, it’s hard for me to miss a shot.”

From the right, North Country’s Sydney Craig and Brooke Howell and Vikings Shelby Dugan and Elizabeth Zehner battle for a loose ball during the first half of Monday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The Vikings, who had only six players on the bench, got a three-point play from Shelby Dugan at the start of the second half to cut their deficit to 23-17, but North Country responded with a 14-point run to all but end any comeback hopes by the visitors. Di’Aisa Smith hit a layup for Hudson Valley with 4:28 left in the third to stop the Saints streak and make it a 37-19 game, and NCCC answered with another big run, this time 18 straight points, prompting Saints coach Jerrad Dumont to empty his bench for the final quarter.

Hudson Valley closed out the game by outscoring NCCC 24-14 in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t shoot very well early, but our defense was good,” Dumont said. “Our defense was good throughout the whole game. They only scored four points in the first quarter, and they had just 14 at the half. They left one of their girls at midcourt to start the second half and that kind of threw my girls off a little bit. I just told them to ‘attack, attack’ and you’re going to get wide-open looks. We just started knocking down shots at that point and got ourselves a 30, 40 point lead.”

After watching his players struggle on offense early on, Dumont admitted that it might be time to change things up during his team’s practice sessions.

“We practice at that one end of the court more, so in the future, I think I might practice at each end equally. It’s stressful in the first half,” he said with a smile.

Despite the loss, which dropped the Vikings to 4-19 overall, Hudson Valley coach Rob Coleman was happy with the fight displayed by his outmatched team.

“I really liked our effort at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth,” Coleman said. “We only have six girls, we had five playing and one was in foul trouble, so we had to get a little creative and run our diamond defense and it worked. We got back into the game. It could have been a lot worse than it was. I don’t really believe in moral victories, but now I might be starting to.”

Dugan, a talented Vikings sophomore, led all scorers with 26 points.

In addition to Tucker and Howell, Yvette Santana, Sydney Craig, D’Amonte Cancel and Cardrica Theoc were Saints sophomores playing the final home game of their careers at North Country. Dumont said the whole group will be missed and tough to replace.

“I think that this group of sophomores has improved more than any group of sophomores. They’ve come together as a group and have really led our freshmen as well,” Dumont said. “We start four sophomores and our sixth man off the bench is a sophomore. I can’t find enough good things to say about them. It’s a great group, they do well academically, they’ll all graduate and they’re all going on to play at the next level. It’s good. I think all those girls are happy. They’re excited to take the next step.”

Tucker, who finished with six three-pointers, said she made the right decision attending North Country.

“I learned a lot playing here, developing my game, on and off the court,” Tucker said. “I learned so much from my coach, from my teammates. I learned how to be a better leader, a better teammate. I thought that this was actually the best spot to start my college career in basketball. I committed to Delaware state and next year, hopefully it will be just as good.”

The win gave the Saints a season sweep over the Vikings. They toppled Hudson Valley on the road by a similar score, 65-40, on Feb. 11. North Country will finish the regular season at Herkimer on Saturday and then prepare for the NJCAA, Region III playoffs. The Vikings finish their schedule at Fulton-Montgomery Wednesday.

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North Country 69, Hudson Valley 49

Vikings 4 10 11 24 — 49

Saints 12 11 32 14 — 69

North Country (69)

Rust 1-5-8, McCrae 0-0-0, Tucker 7-0-20, Santana 2-0-6, Warner 1-0-2, Smith 2-0-4, Craig 1-4-7, Williamson 1-0-2, Cancel 3-1-7, Theoc 0-0-0, Howell 5-1-11, Devries 0-0-0. Totals: 24-11-69.

Hudson Valley (49)

Dugan 11-3-26, Smith 4-1-9, Clute 0-0-0, Pulcher 1-0-2, Zehner 2-0-4, Stevens 3-0-8. Totals: 21-4-49.

Three-point goals: Hudson Valley (3), Dugan, Stevens 2. NCCC (10), Tucker 6, Santana 2, Rust, Craig.