SARANAC LAKE — The North Country Community College women’s basketball team is one win away from a successful defense of its NJCAA, Region III crown.

The top-seeded Saints are hosting the Region III final four, and reached the championship game with a hard-fought 66-63 victory over No. 4 Mohawk Valley Saturday afternoon.

North Country will square off with Onondaga at 1 p.m. Sunday in the final at the Sparks Athletic Complex. The Lazers had a much easier time in their semifinal Saturday as they took down Herkimer 83-59 in the second game of the doubleheader played on the Saints’ floor.

The winner of the championship game will earn a trip to the NJCAA Division III women’s basketball championship tournament taking place March 12-14 in Rockford, Illinois.

Saturday’s semifinal matchup between North Country and Mohawk Valley featured two nationally-ranked teams, and the Hawks gave the Saints all they could handle in a game that see-sawed back and forth during both halves.

The Saints held their biggest edge of nine points on two occasions in the in the third quarter, but the Hawks battled back to keep it a nail biter right until the final buzzer sounded. Mohawk Valley’s largest edge of the contest was a 29-24 lead at halftime.

Sophomore Kayla Carder scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Saints, and the All-American made two huge free throws with 5.6 seconds left in regulation when she stepped to the line with her team clinging to a 64-61 lead. Carder drained both shots and the Hawks never got a clean shot at a possible game-tying three-pointer before the buzzer sounded.

A number of the Saints came through with big plays at key times. Carder also led the Saints on the glass with nine rebounds.

Damoni Wells scored 14 points and collected eight rebounds in the win and Lavender Ward chipped in 11 points. Talesa Campbell added nine points and Lauren Denny drained five points to round out the scoring for North Country.

The Hawks, who were ranked 11th in the NJCAA Division III national poll, were paced by Lyrik Jackson and Jasmine Michaux, who combined for 48 points and 17 rebounds.

Mohawk Valley ended its season with a 17-7 record.

Both North Country and Onondaga enter the title game with 27-3 records. The Saints are ranked fifth nationally in Division III and the Lazers are seventh. North Country defeated Onondaga 88-60 on Nov. 23 in Saranac Lake in the only meeting between the teams in the regular season.