DRYDEN — Octavia Daye drilled back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes Friday to lift North Country Community College to a 58-50 victory over Clinton Community College in the NJCAA Region III Division III women's basketball quarterfinals.
"Those were probably the two biggest shots anybody's hit since I've been here," third-year North Country coach Jerrad Dumont said.
Daye totaled five triples on her way to a game-high 25 points. Jade Pellerin led Clinton with 14.
The fifth-seeded Saints (15-9) match up with No. 1 seed Onondaga C.C. at 3 p.m. today at Tompkins-Cortland Community College.
No. 4 seed Clinton led 49-48 with 2:39 to go but managed just one more point.
Daye hit one trey with 1:45 left to give the Saints a 2-point lead and stroked another 49 seconds later, making it 54-49. Both shots were preceded by Clinton turnovers.
The Saints sealed it when Dejanaye Williams got a putback and Daye made a pair of free throws with 25 seconds on the clock.
"For 36 or 37 minutes, we were not together," Dumont said. "We went on spurts where we played really well and then had spurts where we were I don't even know what.
"The last 3 to 4 minutes we came together as a team. We shared the basketball and really, really defended well."
Ayanda Ntombela scored 16 points for North Country, and Stephanie De Los Santos had 10 points, seven rebounds and a big steal at the end.
Clinton (18-9) led 26-21 at the half, and coach Donna Dixon would have liked a bigger lead.
"We should've taken advantage when they were in foul trouble in the first half," she said. "We weren't able to make a run on them."
Dumont added that while the Saints had two players on the bench because of fouls, Isatou Kujabi gave them solid minutes. She finished with six rebounds — five at the offensive end.
Johni Coryea had 12 points for the Cougars, and Kiyanna Edwards tossed in 11. Mychelle Favreau pulled down 13 rebounds.
"We played real well. This is not going to take away from the season we had, because I think our season was very successful," Dixon said. "It was not one play that lost us the game or won them the game. It was 40 minutes, and they hit the two shots when they needed to.
"I'm really pleased with the season and with the fight in our team."
Onondaga beat No. 8 Corning 69-44 Friday.
"They're very smart," Dumont said. "We're a lot more athletic than they are, so hopefully our zone will cause them some problems."
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North Country (58)
Williams 1-0-2, Daye 9-2-25, Ntombela 6-4-16, Garcia 2-1-5, De Los Santos 4-1-10, Kujabi 0-0-0, Newtown 0-0-0, Petty 0-0-0. Totals: 22-8-58.
Clinton (50)
Edwards 4-2-11, Favreau 0-1-1, Bowman 3-0-7, Coryea 4-2-12, Pellerin 4-4-14, Pfeiffer 0-0-0, Fournia 0-0-0, Sullivan 2-0-5. Totals: 17-9-50.
3-point goals: North Country (6), Daye 5, De Los Santos. Clinton (7), Coryea 2, Pellerin 2, Edwards, Bowman, Sullivan.
Halftime: Clinton 26, North Country 21.
Men Mohawk Valley 79 North Country 65
WATERTOWN — Chad LaDue can't remember too many games where the opponent outshot his Saints from behind the arc.
But that's what happened when the North Country Community College men's basketball team played Mohawk Valley in the NJCAA Region III/Division III quarterfinal.
The Saints' offense sputtered in a 79-65 loss to the Hawks Friday at Jefferson Community College.
North Country, seeded sixth, made just 4-of-18 3-pointers as No. 3 seed Mohawk Valley finished with six triples.
"That really is the story of it," LaDue said. "I told the guys, and I truly mean this, I wouldn't change locker rooms with any one of the eight teams here.
"We just didn't hit shots today, and that's kind of who we are."
Mohawk Valley had four players finish in double figures, with Algeron Torrance scoring a game-high 27 points. Roderick Gray added 17, and Tymell Murphy and Darien Davis each scored 10.
Gene Bouyer led North Country (16-13) with 17 points. Drew Boyea scored 12 and Ryan Lamica, 11.
The Saints trailed 42-26 after the first half.
"We got it to 58-51 with seven minutes to go, and that was as close as we got it," LaDue said.
LaDue said he was "extremely proud" of what his team accomplished, especially considering the Saints started the season at 2-6.
"We're going to miss the three seniors — Ryan Lamica, Drew Boyea and Randy Danso," he said.
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North Country CC 65
Mohawk Valley CC (79)
Davis 2-5-10, Murphy 4-2-10, Douglas 1-2-5, Gray 8-0-17, Smith 1-0-2, Torrance 12-2-27, Holmes 3-0-8. Totals: 31-11-79.
North Country CC (65)
Badio 0-0-0, Williams 1-0-2, Lamica 4-1-11, Bouyer 7-3-17, Garcia 0-0-0, Janiewski 2-1-5, Danso 8-2-18, Boyea 4-2-12. Totals: 26-9-65.
3-point goals: Mohawk Valley (6) Holmes 2, Davis, Douglas, Gray, Torrance. North Country (4) Lamica 2, Boyea 2.
Halftime: Mohawk Valley, 42-26.
