NORTH COUNTRY 81, JEFFERSON 68

SARANAC LAKE — Langston Cook, a freshman guard from Columbus, Ohio, paced the Saints (7-5, 5-4) with 30 points on five assists.  "I thought we had great focus," North Country coach Chad LaDue said. "I thought that we had unbelievable energy, and we were ready to play. It's my job to get them ready to play, and it's their job to be ready.  "I thought that everyone was accountable, starting with me all the way down. It was a good day."  Randall Saintilus added 15 points, 15 rebounds, six steals and four blocks for the Saints.  Ivan Grcic chipped in with 12 points on four 3-point field goals.  We did a really nice job on our pressure," LaDue said. "We caused a bunch of turnovers, which led to some offensive scoring opportunities. I thought everyone who played gave us great minutes.  "When we share the basketball and we play together, we're a pretty good team. We did those things (Saturday)."  Matthew Gullotta picked up seven points on nine rebounds, while Frane Larose added five assists.

North Country concluded its first semester with a 5-4 mark in Region III play.  The Saints will return to action with a home game against SUNY Adirondack at 7 p.m. Jan. 8.  "Going on break, it's a lot easier leaving each other and not playing for so long when you go home with a win, so we're definitely excited about that," LaDue said.  "More importantly, we're 5-4 in the region. You have to be at .500 or better to make the playoffs. We've done that in the first half of the season. Now, we've got to continue."