Saranac Lake players James Catania and Zach Churco (23) battle for a rebound with Northeastern Clinton’s Stephen Garrow (23) and James Molinski during Wednesday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

SARANAC LAKE — For the first quarter and a couple minutes into the second, everything was pointing in the right directon for the Saranac Lake boys basketball team in a home game against Northeastern Clinton on Wednesday.

NCCS then turned things around in a big, big way. Trailing 18-10, the Cougars rattled off 22 unanswered points and were never threatened the rest of the way in a 49-39 victory over the Red Storm.

NCCS went on a 16-0 run in the second quarter to lead 26-18 at the intermission and opened the second half with a 6-0 burst to surge ahead by 14 points. Saranac Lake sophomore Nate McCarthy finally put an end to a scoreless spell that started early in the second period when he banked in a layup midway through the third quarter. McCarthy’s bucket began a 7-0 run for the Red Storm, but the Cougars were able to stay in control down the stretch to improve to 5-10 overall.

The Red Storm got within eight points twice during the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, but NCCS went 3-for-4 at the foul line during the closing seconds of the game to seal the win.

Stephen Garrow and Spencer Trudo led NCCS with 12 points each and Mason Supernaw added 10 for the winners.

McCarthy paced the Red Storm with 12 points and Zach Churco tossed in nine points.

Saranac Lake dropped to 3-13 overall with the loss and next plays at Ticonderoga Friday.