Playing on its home court Monday evening, the Red Storm snapped a three-game losing skid with a 50-43 victory over the Ticonderoga Sentinels. The win, which improved Saranac Lake’s overall record to 7-7, was much needed according to Red Storm head coach Daryl Crist.

“Ticonderoga is a pretty good team for our conference,” he said. “They’re coming off a couple of good wins against some good teams. We knew whatever it took that, they were going to have to play 32 minutes just to get back in that win column. The boys, I thought played pretty well.”

Caleb Akey led Saranac Lake with 19 points, while Melvin Cirikovic posted a season-high 15 points. Mik Denkenberger also scored in double figures, recording 10 points with three 3-pointers. Zack McCarthy, Brady Owens and Dillon Wilson chipped in with two points each.

“It’s very important we have multiple people in double-digit points,” Crist said. “Melvin really played a solid game. I thought he was our best rebounder, especially on the offensive side. He got us a couple of second-chance opportunities. Obviously, Caleb has been doing a lot for us, and then Mik, as a sophomore, has a lot of responsibility, but he stepped up pretty well.”

Saranac Lake’s Dillon Wilson, center, attacks the basket with two Ticonderoga players defending him during Monday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Alex Swajger paced Ticonderoga with 17 points, which included 11 points in the second quarter alone. The Sentinels’ Tommy Montalbano chipped in with 12 points and Jackson Dorsett added six. The loss snapped Ticonderoga’s three-game win streak, dropping its overall record to 6-8.

“Going forward, we’ve got to just stack wins,” Crist said. “Every win this time of year is critical. We’ve been working hard and I feel good about the boys. They’ve been working hard and good things will come.”

With the season winding down, the Red Storm were slated to take on the AuSable Valley Patriots on Tuesday before returning home to face the Plattsburgh Hornets at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

On Monday, Saranac Lake got off to a hot start by outscoring Ticonderoga 10-4, before extending its lead to 18-6 at the end of the first quarter.

While trailing by double-figures, the Sentinels picked up the intensity second and third quarters with a 33-21 run to even the game at 39-39.

With the game tied in the final period of play, the Red Storm used a 2-3 zone to hold off any Ticonderoga offensive attack, which included a 4-minute, 30-second stretch where Saranac Lake held the Sentinels without a basket.

“We wanted to play with a faster tempo for most of the game, which we did,” Crist said. “We switched our pressure point a little bit on full court and then we went zone, which we thought would hurt them and I thought we could rebound a little bit better out of it. It just worked out that it was the right call. It was a job well done by the boys.”

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Saranac Lake 50, Ticonderoga 43

Red Storm 18 13 8 11 — 50

Sentinels 6 22 11 4 — 43

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Saranac Lake (50)

McCarthy 1-0-2, Akey 6-5-19, Cirikovic 6-2-15, Denkenberger 3-1-10, Owens 1-0-2, Clark 0-0-0, Wilson 1-0-2, Goetz 0-0-0, Rivers 0-0-0, Lewis 0-0-0. Totals: 18-8-50.

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Ticonderoga (43)

Smith 1-0-3, Brown 0-1-1, Crossman 0-0-0, Montalbano 4-2-12, Dorsett 2-0-6, Belden 1-0-2, Fraiser 0-0-0, Lender 1-0-2, Mazotte 0-0-0, Mosier 0-0-0, Perron 0-0-0, Swajger 6-4-17. Totals 15-7-43.

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3-point goals: Saranac Lake (6): Denkenberger 3, Akey 2, Cirikovic. Ticonderoga (6): Montalbano 2, Dorsett 2, Swajger, Smith.