CLINTONVILLE — At halftime Thursday, the AuSable Valley girls' basketball team, appeared headed for a fairly easy win.

Northeastern Clinton, however, didn't go away.

Taylor Saltus scored 17 points and the Patriots held on for a 52-46 Champlain Valley Athletic Conference victory. They clinched their fifth straight Division II title.

Madison Rondeau added 10 points for the Patriots (12-2, 9-2), while Meghan Strong chipped in with eight points and seven assists. Alexis Facteau and Sierra Snow both grabbed 11 rebounds.

Allie Cartier paced the Cougars (7-6, 7-4) with 15 points, followed by Skyler Hebert with 12 and Justine Rabideau 11.

AuSable Valley held a 36-15 halftime lead before it got interesting when the Patriots were held to only two points in the third.

"We pressured hard in the first half and everything was going our way," AuSable Valley coach Roger Long said. "We were up by 21 points.

"But they came out in a zone in the second half and dug in. We struggled and they actually came all the way back to take a 41-40 lead.

"But we were able to go back up by three, and Saltus hit a 3-pointer with about 45 seconds left that ended the scoring."

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AuSable Valley 52, NCCS 46

NCCS (46)

M. Rabideau 0-0-0, Southwick 1-0-2, Hebert 4-4-12, Roush 1-0-2, Menard 0-0-0, Grimshaw 1-2-4, J. Rabideau 4-2-11, Dominic 0-0-0, Cartier 5-5-15, Favro 0-0-0. Totals: 16-13-46.

AuSable Valley (52)

Strong 3-0-8, Saltus 7-2-17, Keyser 3-0-8, Taylor 0-0-0, Rondeau 4-0-10, Snow 1-0-2, Roy 1-0-2, Loreman 0-0-0, Facteau 1-3-5. Totals: 20-5-52.

NCCS       10 5 12 19 — 46

AuSable Valley      19 17 2 14 — 52

3-point goals: NCCS (1): J. Rabideau. AuSable Valley (7): Strong 2; Keyser 2; Rondeau 2; Saltus.

JV: NCCS won.

Mod: AuSable Valley won.

Seton Catholic 50 Saranac Lake 42

PLATTSBURGH — The Knights (4-9, 4-8) erased a 27-25 halftime deficit by outscoring the Red Storm, 25-15, over the final two quarters.

Kelli Ryan led Seton Catholic with 14 points, while Kate Schofield added 11 and Paige Spittler nine.

Nicole Viscardo tossed in a game-high 19 points, including four 3-pointers, for Saranac Lake (3-11, 2-9), and Megan Kilroy added seven points.

"We needed a win like this," Seton Catholic coach Danielle Castine said. "They (Saranac Lake) started out shooting real well and seemed to be making everything they shot.

"But we were able to hold them without scoring in the first four minutes of the third quarter. We got a balanced attack, and everyone played well for us."

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Seton Catholic 50,

Saranac Lake 42

Saranac Lake (42)

McDonough 0-1-1, Moody 2-2-6, Kilroy 3-0-7, Kieffer 1-0-2, Orticelle 0-0-0, Tuthill 2-1-5, Viscardo 7-1-19, Ploof 1-0-2, Farmer 0-0-0. Totals: 16-5-42.

Seton Catholic (50)

Zalis 3-1-7, Schofield 3-2-11, Nephew 1-1-3, Olsen 0-0-0, Durgan 0-0-0, Spittler 3-3-9, Murnane 2-2-6, Clark 0-0-0, Ryan 4-6-14, Egan 0-0-0. Totals: 16-15-50.

Saranac Lake       14 13 7 8 — 42

Seton Catholic       10 15 14 11 — 50

3-point goals: Saranac Lake (5): Viscardo 4; Kilroy. Seton Catholic (3): Schofield 3.

Mod: Seton Catholic won.

Plattsburgh 45 Ticonderoga 23

TICONDEROGA — Marle Curle scored 19 points and Plattsburgh High School (6-7, 6-5) pulled away in the second half.

The Sentinels (3-11, 1-10) trailed by a 21-17 margin at the half before the Hornets outscored the hosts by a combined 24-6 over the final two quarters.

"We were ahead for almost all the first half," Ticonderoga coach Shelly Young said. "We played well.

"But Curle is hard to defend — she's quick — and we turned the ball over too much in the second half. Plus they outscored us, 13-1, for the game from the foul line."

Curle was the only Plattsburgh player in double figures. Olivia Carlsson was next with six.

Andrea Rich tossed in 11 points to lead the Sentinels.

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Plattsburgh 45, Ticonderoga 23

Plattsburgh (45)

Dragoon 1-3-5, Menard 1-0-2, Carlsson 3-0-6, Rotz 1-1-3, Keyser 1-2-4, Curle 5-7-19, Duquette 2-0-4, Marlow 1-0-2, Rohrig 0-0-0, Gobbins 0-0-0, Miller 0-0-0. Totals: 15-13-45.

Ticonderoga (23)

Bush 1-0-2, Purkey 2-0-4, Moore 1-0-2, Rich 5-1-11, Austin 1-0-2, Kelly 1-0-2, Jebb 0-0-0, Mars 0-0-0, Campney 0-0-0. Totals: 11-1-23.

Plattsburgh       5 16 14 10 — 45

Ticonderoga       9 8 4 2 — 23

3-point goals: Plattsburgh (2): Curle 2.

JV: PHS won.

Mod: Ti won.

Saranac 44 Lake Placid 24

LAKE PLACID — Stephanie Linder finished with 20 points, eight steals and four assists as the Chiefs (14-0, 11-0) continued their unbeaten ways.

Alisha Ducatte chipped in with 12 points for Saranac, which jumped out to a 27-9 lead at the half.

Dani Balestrini was the leading scorer for the Blue Bombers (2-14, 1-11) with nine. Ayla Thompson chipped in with 10 rebounds.

"Obviously Saranac is a very well-coached team," Lake Placid coach Jeff Potter said. "They do everything very well on the court.

"Our girls played extremely well. I'm proud of the way they played."

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Saranac 44, Lake Placid 24

Saranac (44)

Ka. Napper 0-2-2, Kr. Napper 0-0-0, Maye 0-0-0, Newell 0-0-0, Ducatte 3-4-12, Andre 1-0-3, Leahy 1-0-2, Marnes 0-0-0, Gates 0-1-1, Linder 8-3-20, Phaneuf 2-0-4. Totals: 15-10-44.

Lake Placid (24)

Smith 1-0-2, Potter 0-0-0, Taylor 0-0-0, Brandes 1-1-3, Kaltenbach 0-0-0, Balestrini 4-1-9, Thompson 2-0-5, Uebrick 2-1-5. Totals: 10-3-24.

Saranac      12 15 12 5 — 44

Lake Placid       4 5 13 2 — 24

3-point goals: Saranac (4): Ducatte 2; Linder; Andre. Lake Placid (1): Thompson.

JV: Saranac won.

Mod: Saranac won.

Beekmantown 50 Moriah 38

PORT HENRY — Shannon Ryan poured in 26 points as the Eagles (10-4, 9-3) defeated the Vikings (6-8, 5-7).

Emily Anderson added 13 points for Beekmantown, which held a 27-14 lead at the half.

Lauren Pelkey paced Moriah with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Hayley Waldron added seven points and six rebounds.

"It was a pretty close game," Moriah coach Steve Pelkey said. "They stretch it out to 13 at the half, but we closed it back to eight.

"Their height underneath pretty much dominated the game. Ryan had 17 of her points in the first half, and Anderson had seven in the second half. They were able to pretty much control the backboards.

"But we hung in there, and I was proud of my team."

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Beekmantown 50, Moriah 38

Beekmantown (50)

Barrett 0-0-0, Fogelstroem 2-1-5, Ales 0-0-0, McKinnley 0-0-0, Wilson 1-0-2, Barcomb 0-0-0, Ryan 11-4-26, Kelly 1-0-3, Derosher 0-0-0, Porter 0-1-1, Anderson 3-7-13. Totals: 18-13-50.

Moriah (38)

Callis 2-0-4, Chapuk 2-1-7, Brace 0-0-0, Mauran 0-2-2, Sheffer 0-0-0, Pelkey 5-4-14, Martinez 1-1-3, Cutting 0-1-1, Waldron 3-1-7, Carson 0-0-0. Totals: 13-10-38.

Beekmantown      16 11 6 17 — 50

Moriah      10 4 11 13 — 38

3-point goals: Beekmantown (1): Kelly. Moriah (2): Chapuk 2.

JV: Moriah won.

Mod: Beekmantown won.