The Red Storm trailed 19-15 at halftime. However, junior Cedar Crist drained 15-points — all off of 3-point shots — in the third quarter, to elevate his team to its fourth consecutive victory.

Crist scored a team-high 21 points, which included six 3-pointers, all of which came in the second half. Zack McCarthy added 13 points, while Dillon Wilson also reached double figures with 10 points.

“Cedar is (one of the) leaders on the team, and tonight he got hot,” Red Storm head coach Daryl Crist said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that we know when its their turn can catch fire and that’s what this team really understands. It can be one guy for a little bit, but it’s all of us. It’s all one through 12. Cedar was the recipient of good shooting, but others did some work to get him some good shots.”

Saranac Lake has also had a strong outing from Alius Martelle and Mik Denkenberger. Martelle recorded eight points, while Denkenberger chipped in with seven. Their efforts pushed the squad to a 4-0 overall record, it’s the best start to a season since the 2021-22 campaign. Coach Crist said Tuesday’s victory was big for his team.

“We knew they were undefeated, they knew we were undefeated,” he said. “We’re just trying to make our mark and let people know that we’re working hard, and hopefully it comes through Saranac Lake this year.”

Shane Gilmore scored 21 and Kingston Tucker added 18 for the Bobcats, who dropped to 4-1 overall this season. Emmett LaClair scored nine points, while Calvin Magoon had eight.

Northern Adirondack jumped out to a five-point advantage, outscoring the Red Storm 9-4 in the opening quarter. Despite the two squads trading baskets in the second, the Bobcats entered the intermission with a four-point lead.

After the break, Crist drained his first 3-pointer, followed by an outside shot from McCarthy, and seemingly netted all of his outside shots the remainder of the period. Backed by the strong shooting, the hosts took a one point lead at the end of the quarter.

“We kept our composure, we stayed with what we wanted to do, and really fought in a hard game,” coach Crist said. “Northern Adirondack is a well-coached team. They had a great game plan, but our boys are a really close group and they were really able to stay together and execute down the stretch, execute in the second half and start to play the way we wanted to play.”

Wilson led the way in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of the points himself, including a few clutch inside shots, which helped Saranac Lake slip past its opponents.

“He struggled against some bigger kids early, but he just stayed with it,” coach Crist said. “We have such a good mindset of staying with things and staying together and staying positive.”

Up next, the Red Storm will take on the perennial powerhouse Moriah Vikings on the road at 7 p.m. today. Crist said it’ll be another test for his team, considering the Vikings are currently 3-0 overall.

“They went to the (state) final four last year, so it’ll be a great test to see where we are at,” he said. “I know that we are good enough, but we’ll see where we are at it this stage in the season.”

Saranac Lake 59,

Northern Adirondack 56

Bobcats 9 10 19 18 — 56

Red Storm 4 11 24 20 — 59

Northern Adirondack

Chinchilla 0-0-0; Tucker 4-3-13; Bushey 0-0-0; Damour 1-1-3; Magoon 4-0-8; Gauthier 1-0-2; LaClair 4-1-9; Gilmore 8-2-21. Totals: 22-7-56

Saranac Lake

McCarthy 5-2-13; Denkenberger 3-1-7; Crist 7-1-21; Martelle 3-2-8; Wilson 4-2-10; Clark 0-0-0; Harrison 0-0-0; Gillis 0-0-0; Hastings 0-0-0; Lambert 0-0-0; Cecunjanin 0-0-0. Totals: 22-8-59.

3-point goals: Saranac Lake (7): Crist 6, McCarthy. Northern Adirondack (5): Gilmore 3, Tucker 2.