That was until the Red Storm put together a dominating second half to keep its season alive.

Led by Cedar Crist’s 20 points and Mik Denkenberger’s 17, Saranac Lake rallied in the second half from 14 points down to defeat the Saranac Central Spartans 56-49 Saturday afternoon, while advancing to the Section VII, Class B championship game.

The Spartans led for most of Tuesday’s game, due in part to the play of their forwards, Carson Duffield and Xavier Dubay, who made life difficult on the inside. The duo combined for 31 points.

“We were scrambling against their size in the first half,” Saranac Lake head coach Daryl Crist said. “Everything we did, did not work in the first half.”

Saranac Lake’s Cedar Crist, left, drives past Saranac Central’s Carson Duffield during Saturday’s Section VII, Class B semifinal game in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The Red Storm’s young forward duo of Gunner Harrison and Alius Martelle were strong defensively in the second half, helping flip momentum.

“(They) played with a little bit more confidence down low,” coach Crist said. “I believe we held them to a six-point third quarter, so our defensive intensity picked up. But Gunner and Alius, for being a freshman and a sophomore, they really stepped up their game.”

After trailing 31-17 at the intermission, Saranac Lake cut the deficit with 10-3 run to open the quarter.

“This team I don’t ever think feels like they are out of it,” coach Crist said. “They hold themselves pretty accountable and they really feel that once they get going, they’re going to get it going.”

Denkenberger drained a 3-pointer with less than a minute left in the third quarter to give Saranac Lake its first lead of the contest. Cedar Crist followed up the 3-pointer of his own to make the score 41-37 at the end of quarter.

The Red Storm fended off Saranac Central in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Spartans 15-12.

Dubay paced Saranac Central with a team-high 17 points, Duffield added 14. The Spartans close out their season with a 9-12 overall record.

Meanwhile, Saranac Lake improves to 14-7 overall and snaps a two-game losing skid. This will be the third straight season the Red Storm will play in the championships, following a 16-year absence from the game.

“Going to three championships in a row is a big deal,” coach Crist said. “We’ve talked about the journey and we’ve talked about staying together and climbing the mountain. I’m just super proud of the team for staying together.”

The past two seasons, they’ve come up empty, and haven’t won the sectional crown since 1998. But Crist, hopes to change that on Saturday, as they take on the Northeastern Clinton Cougars in a rematch of last year’s title game.

The Section VII, Class B championship will be held at the Clinton Community College gym in Plattsburgh at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 1.

“We’re going to go to Plattsburgh and try and get it done this year,” coach Crist said.

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Saranac Lake 56, Saranac Central 49

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Spartans 11 20 6 12 — 49

Red Storm 4 13 24 15 — 56

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Individual stats

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SC — Armaniii Richards 1-0-2; Kellen Goff 0-0-0; Austin Hulkow 1-0-3; Corbin Duffield 0-0-0; Zack Lucia 2-0-4; Anthony Fleury 0-0-0; Henry Napper 2-1-5; Brady Stone 0-0-0; Theran Ducatte 2-0-4; Xavier Dubay 6-5-17; Eli Ledwith 0-0-0; Carson Duffield 6-1-14. Totals: 20-7-49.

SL — Zack McCarthy 2-0-5; Mik Denkenberger 4-7-17; Cedar Crist 7-5-20; Sam Clark 0-0-0; Alius Martelle 2-1-5; Zack Goetz 1-0-2; Gunner Harrison 1-1-3; Dillon Wilson 1-2-4; Connor Gillis 0-0-0; Noah Hastings 0-0-0; Levi Lambert 0-0-0; Finn Maiore 0-0-0; Elias Willett 0-0-0; Austin Webb-Brown 0-0-0. Totals: 18-16-56.

3-point goals: Saranac Central (2): Duffield, Hulkow. Saranac Lake (4): Denkenberger 2, McCarthy, Crist.