CANTON - St. Regis Falls is not the first boys basketball team which comes to mind when talking about Class D champions from Section 10.

It’s been decades since the Saints have contended for sectional honors, but this year’s Franklin County contingent appears poised to change all that.

The Saints (13-1) shook off their first loss of the season this past Wednesday night by running past Heuvelton 56-36 on Saturday night in a non-league affair at SUNY Canton.

Caleb Green, averaging 19 points-per-game, continued his torrid shooting this season by scoring 18 of his game-high 26 points in the first half to power coach Justin Todd’s club. Green’s total included four three-pointers before halftime.

“Caleb is the heart and soul of our team. I can’t say enough about the job he’s done for us this year,” said Todd. “He not only shot the ball well from outside tonight, but he also attacked the basket a little bit which I liked to see.”

Heuvelton (9-5) was coming off a Friday-night upset of previously-unbeaten and NAC West Division leader, Edwards-Knox. But the Bulldogs fell behind early at Roos House and could not recover against the East Division leaders.

“After last night, I don’t know, mentally,if we were too checked out tonight,” said Heuvelton coach Josh McAllister whose leading scorer, inside-threat Cody Holland, was held to just one point by an aggressive Saint defense. “It’s tough (playing two first-place teams back-to-back). They are a very good team. Hopefully if we seem them again, it’ll be a better game.”

The Saints led just 16-11 after one quarter, but surged to a 38-18 halftime lead behind Green’s three three-pointers and two more trifectas by Corey Labounty. The game was fairly even in the second half but Labounty and Brandon Votra (10 rebounds) each finished with 10 points while Tyler Daggett added seven points for the winners.

For Heuvelton, Mike Guardino led the way with 12 points followed by John Sloan (2 three-pointers) with eight and Dedrick Johnson with seven. Aaron Cobb added six.

“Josh threw four different defenses as us - triangle-and-two, 3-2 zone, 2-3 zone, man-to-man - but we adjusted well and found the open man,” said Todd. “I’m not going to say (it’s our year in Class D). There are a lot of solid D teams and we’re just happy to be one of them. Tonight is where our season started. We have that first loss out of the way now and it helped us in that we can work on our weaknesses and get better.”

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