Saranac Lake's Caleb Akey (11) with the jumper along the baseline as he tries to avoid the block attempt of Northeastern Clinton's Ashton Turner (10). It would be the opening game of the second day of the Section VII Basketball Championships from Clinton Community College of 5 on the schedule today. It would see the top-seeded Saranac Lake Red Storm taking on the #3 Northeastern Clinton Cougars in the class B Boys Basketball finals. The Cougars would be looking for the upset from the beginning as they would get off to the early lead at 13-10 after the first eight minutes of the game. In the second quarter, the Cougars would stay hot as they used the quarter to pull ahead with a 17-10 quarter to have a 30-20 lead at the intermission when the teams returned for the third quarter the Red Storm would regroup and come out looking to take the game back over with a 19-15 quarter to cut the lead nearly in half at 45-39 Cougars. In the fourth and final quarter, the Cougars would keep it together and regain the edge with a 16-12 quarter and get the ten-point win and a 61-51 section vii class B boys basketball title. In the winning effort for the Cougars Collen Castine would lead the way with 23 points. With the win the Northeastern Clinton Cougars advance to the NYSPHSAA Class B Tournament and will play the winner of section ii on March 6th at Averl Park. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Jordan Brown (2) with the wide-open three from the wing. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Stephen Garrow (34) goes up and under the Plattsburgh defender and lays it off the window. It would be a matchup inside the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference as the Plattsburgh Hornets would host the Northeastern Clinton Cougars in a rematch of last year's Section VII Class B championship. The game would start off well for the home Hornets as they would come rolling out of the gates and have a 17-9 lead after the opening quarter of the game. In the second quarter, the Hornets would stay hot and were able to extend their lead with a 20-13 quarter to give the Hornets the 37-22 lead at the break. When the teams would return for the second half the Cougars would regroup and find their shot and make it a two-point game at the end of the third quarter at 43-41 Hornets. For the first half of the fourth quarter, the teams would go back and forth, and the game with stay within a couple of points. Then with a little under five minutes left in the game there would a scramble for the ball under the basket and the Cougars would get called for a technical foul from there the game would fall apart for the Cougars and the Hornets would pull away with an eleven point win at 66-55. In the winning effort, the Hornets would go to 6-11 on the season while the Cougars will fall to 11-7 as both teams start looking at the playoff stretch. Gallery

Plattsburgh's Logan Rodriquez (20) with the short-range jumper right in front for the score. Gallery

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 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

Peru's Samuel Godfrey (23) with the three from the corner as part of a game-high 17 point night. It would be a Champlain Valley Athletic Conference tilt as the host Peru Nighthawks would take on the Northeastern Clinton Cougars on a senior night for Peru. Although the seniors were honored before the game it would not be meant to be on this night as the Cougars would have a 25-19 lead at the half despite the best efforts by Nighthawks. When the teams would return for the second half the Nighthawks would try their best to stay in the game but the Cougars would have a 28-13 quarter and cruise to the 53-32 win. In the winning effort for the Cougars, Gillbo and Manor would lead the way 12 points as they go to 7-11 on the season. As for the Nighthawks, Samuel Godfrey would have a game of 17 points but it wouldn't be enough as they fall to 2-15 on the season. Gallery

Northeastern Clinton's Jordan Brown (2) looks to set up the play as he crosses the midcourt line as Peru's Nicholas Petro applies the defense. Gallery