Northeastern Clinton's Darren Dubois (23) soars over a group of Plattsburgh Hornets defenders on the mid-range jumper. It would be the last Section VII championship of the weekend as the upset-minded #5 Northeastern Clinton Cougars would do battle with the #2 Plattsburgh Hornets. The Cinderella season would like would continue for the Cougars as they would have the 15-11 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Hornets offense would come alive with an 18-10 quarter and have a 29-25 lead at the intermission. When the teams came back for the third quarter the offense would stay hot as they would put together a 20-11 quarter and take the 49-36 lead into the fourth quarter. In that fourth quarter, the Hornets would put the final touches on the game with a 16-8 quarter and secure the 66-44 victory and the 2022 Section VII Class B championship. With the win, the Plattsburgh Hornets will enter the NYSPHSAA Class B Tournament and will advance to the quarterfinals on March 12th against the winner of the sections x and ii winners. With the loss, the dream season for the Northeastern Clinton Cougars comes to an end at 9-14. Gallery

Plattsburgh's Carter King (24) with the tuff shot as he is surrounded by the defenders for the mid-range shot. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton’s Ryan Racine and Pelham’s Eric Elbery jostle for position as they arrive at the loose puck along the half boards. The Northeastern Clinton Central School boys hockey team’s season came to an end Saturday with an 8-3 loss to the top-ranked team in NYSPHSAA Division II hockey in the regional round of the state championship tournament.
The Cougars played hard to the end, but they were unable to overcome the Pelicans of Pelham Memorial High School.
Pelham put pressure on the Cougars early, keeping the puck in the offensive zone for much of the third period. The Pelicans led shots by a 31-4 margin at the first intermission, with a pair of goals by sophomore Griffin Evans - both assisted by junior Louie Marcelino - the difference on the scoreboard.
The Cougars came out of the locker room looking to get back even and accomplished half of that job when senior Reid Lavalley notched the team’s first tally of the game.
Any momentum the Cougars wanted to take from that was stifled quickly, as senior captain Luke Green restored the Pelicans’ two-goal lead just 27 seconds later.
Pelham Memorial piled on a further two goals, by Marcelino and junior defenseman Eric Elbery, to build up a comfortable 5-1 lead. A couple of breaks for the Northeastern Clinton team threatened to put them right back in the game before the end of the period, though.
The first came as senior defenseman Blake Chevalier launched the puck up the ice 175 feet from behind his own goal line. Instead of going behind for icing, the bouncing puck hit the pads of goaltender Jake Mallinson and deflected into the net.
The second break came just 46 seconds later, as freshman Winfred Simpson scored off assists from Lavalley and freshman Ryan Racine to bring the Cougars within two goals.
That was the closest the Section VII champions would get, however, as the Pelicans added another goal by Marcelino before the end of the period, with Evans and senior Ben Rosenberg getting the assists.
The third period was once again one controlled by Pelham Memorial, with an 18-4 advantage in shots in the final frame. Freshman Mark Rosa got on the score sheet at 11:28 of the third period, assisted by freshman Reid Finster and Rosenberg, before Marcelino completed his hat trick 23 seconds later.
Rosenberg recorded assists on Pelham’s last five goals of the game.
Mallinson made 14 saves for Pelham, while senior Alain Juneau’s 66 saves in net for Northeastern fell short, as the Pelicans outshot the Cougars 74-17 in the contest.
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Pelham’s Angus Deeney skates in on goal as Northeastern Clinton goaltender Alain Juneau prepares to make one of the 66 saves he would make in the game. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Bailee LaFountain (10) drives the baseline for the score on the Chiefs defender. It would be the finals of the Section VII Class B Girls Basketball between the #1 Northeastern Clinton Cougars and the #2 Saranac Chiefs. The Cougars would start off hot and quick with a 12-7 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the game would be played more evenly with a 10-9 cougars quarter and take a 22-16 lead into the break. When the teams came back for the third quarter the break would do the Chiefs go as they came back energized with a 10-5 quarter and trail by just one at 27-26 as they entered the fourth quarter. In that fourth quarter, both teams would have their best offensive output of the game as the Chiefs win the quarter 16-11 and get the come from behind win at 42-38. With the win, the Chiefs advance to the NYSPHSAA Class B Girls Tournament and will play the quarterfinals on March 12th at Clinton Community College as the Northeastern Clinton Cougars season comes to an end at 18-3. Gallery

Saranac's Breanna Ducatte (40) with the three from the corner over the Northeastern Clinton defender. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Reid LaValley (2) with the goal over Beekmantown's Austin Doser (31 as he gets hit and sent to the ice. It would be a match-up of the top two teams in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference as the #1 Beekmantown Eagles would faceoff with the #2 Northeastern Clinton Cougars for the conference championship at the Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse. The game would start out very evenly matched through the first period as there would be no score after one but that doesn't mean that there weren't chances by both teams to get on the board. The Cougars would finally break the ice and get the opening goal of the game from Reid LaValley for the 1-0 lead 4:12 into the second period. The game would stay there till the 10:34 mark of the period when Reid Fessette would get the equalizer on the unassisted goal. Then in the final 90 seconds of the period, the Eagles would pull ahead on the Luke Moser powerplay goal to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission, The game would stay there till the ten-minute mark of the third period when Reid Levalley would strike for the second goal of the game and tie the game at two. The game would stay there through the rest of the regulation and we were headed into that all-important overtime. It would take until there were eight seconds left in the second overtime when Reid LaValley would strike for the third time and get the championship. With the win, the Northeastern Clinton Cougars will be headed to the NYSPHSAA Division 2 tournament and will take on the #1 team in the state Pelham on March 5th for the right to go to the NYSPHSAA Final Four March 12th-13th. Gallery

Beekmantown's Sam Bingel (11) with the hard hit on Northeastern Clinton's Wayne Simpson (18) that sends him flying into the glass. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Darren Dubois (23) with the contested shot over Saranac's Justin Bedard (0) for the basket to keep his team in the front early. It would be game number 2 on the day for Saranac High School as the #1 Saranac Chiefs would host the #5 Northeastern Clinton Cougars in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference Class B Semi-Finals and take on the winner of #2 Plattsburgh Hornets and #3 Saranac Lake Red Storm in finals on March 5th at Clinton Community College. The upset-minded Cougars would be in good shape after the first quarter with a quick sprint to a 19-12 lead. In the second quarter, the Chiefs would start pulling them back in with a 15-p quarter and trail 28-27 at the intermission. The third quarter when the teams came back would be an even quarter with nine points each making it 37-36 game headed to the fourth. In the fourth quarter, some clinch defense by the Cougars would lead to an 18-13 quarter and a 55-49 win for the Cougars. In the winning effort, the #5 Northeastern Clinton Cougars have earned a surprise spot in the championship against the #2 Plattsburgh Hornets at Clinton Community College. Gallery

Saranac's Justin Bedard (0) lays it off the window for the score as Northeastern Clinton's Aidan Creller looking for the rebound. Gallery