Saranac Lake triumphed 35-21 when the teams met for the first time this season on Dec. 5 in Lake Placid. Tuesday’s rematch featured a much tighter, back-and-forth contest, and in the end, the Red Storm made up for a disadvantage under the boards with a turnover-creating defense that led to fast-break points in the fourth quarter.

Saranac Lake head coach Chad LaDue said getting scoring from five players also benefited his team, which improved to 3-3 overall.

Sophomore Alex LaDue paced Saranac Lake with a game-high 14 points, Olivia Bell, Nora Glover and Susan Stevens each scored six points in the win and Serena Stevens chipped in two points.

The Blue Bombers owned the edge in height inside the paint with their big forwards Deidra Kellerman and Arnita Cecunjanin, and they hauled down loads of rebounds, but Lake Placid struggled to put the ball in the hoop.

Saranac Lake point guard Alex LaDue dribbles between Lake Placid’s Natalie Tavares (3) and Izzy Armstrong during the first half of Tuesday’s game. LaDue tossed in a game-high 14 points to help lead the Red Storm to victory. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The Red Storm lost their most physical player, Mecalyn Sousa, when her season ended in December with an elbow injury. Since then, they’ve turned to a faster unit, which proved to be a difference maker against Lake Placid.

“Now we’re a little smaller, but then we play four guards and we’re quicker,” LaDue said. “I thought in the fourth quarter, defensively, we got some turnovers, got some steals that led to transition baskets, which we were fortunate to get.

“I thought the girls played well,” LaDue added. “We didn’t shoot very well, but part of that is it’s our first time back from the break. Some of the shots that didn’t fall, usually do.”

Kellerman, a junior, paced Lake Placid with 10 points and 23 rebounds. Izzy Armstrong tossed in nine points for the Blue Bombers and Cecunjanin and Grace Crawford rounded out the team’s scoring with six points apiece.

The teams entered halftime in a 16-16 deadlock, and Lake Placid scored the first three points of the third quarter to go up 19-16. The Red Storm rallied back to lead 26-24 entering the fourth period, and then went on an 8-3 run that provided them a big enough cushion to earn the win.

“It’s been our story all year: we dominate the boards, get offensive rebounds but we aren’t scoring any points,” said Lake Placid coach Jeff Potter, whose team fell to 2-6 overall. “You can’t win like that, and then down the stretch, silly turnovers. They outhustled us and our girls got fatigued. It’s our first game coming back off our two-week break. We played hard but you could see that mental fatigue set in the last four minutes.

“For the first three quarters we played good defense, but we allowed them to get easy baskets down the stretch,” Potter continued. “Saranac Lake hustled us, they moved the ball really well, which gives them open looks. That was the key. Obviously we had the height advantage, we just have to get better around the rim putting them back.”

The Blue Bombers play their next two games at home, starting with Wednesday’s matchup against Johnsburg. After that, Lake Placid will host Chazy Friday, with both varsity contests slated to start around 7 p.m.

Saranac Lake will also be at home for its next two starts. The Red Storm hosts Saranac Central on Wednesday with the tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m., and will then play a non-league game against Tupper Lake on Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m.

“We’ll have to have a much better performance to stay in it against Saranac, but I’m happy with where we’re at at this point,” LaDue said. ” I know where we stand as a team and as a program, and to be 3-3, I’ll take that.”

—

BOYS BASKETBALL

Lake Placid 44, Johnsburg/Minerva 29

JOHNSBURG — The Lake Placid boys basketball team began the second part of the season the same way it closed out its schedule before the holidays — on a winning note.

The Blue Bombers claimed their first victory of the season on Dec. 19 beating Wells by three points on a buzzer-beater. On Tuesday, Lake Placid notched its second straight win, topping Johnsburg/Minerva 44-29 on the Jaguars’ court.

Matt Brandes had the hot hand for Lake Placid, draining a game-high 23 points. The junior dropped in nine of those points in the opening half and caught fire in the third quarter when he added 10 to his total.

Jack Armstrong also hit in double figures for the Blue Bombers, finishing with 10 points.

Caleb Hugbey led Johnsburg with 15 points.