Blazers Advance to District Title Game for Third Straight Year

RANDY WOOLF INTERVIEW

IRVING, Texas – North Lake has been in this position before – the last three years to be exact.

But the Blazers never take it for granted.

Dallas College North Lake's second-ranked men's basketball team beat Dallas College Mountain View, 83-60, Thursday night in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South Central District semifinals in the Blazer Dome. The win sends North Lake (25-4) on to Saturday's 2 p.m. championship game against No. 8-ranked Dallas College Richland.

"I'm just glad me and my team came out ready to play, ready to win," Blazers sophomore guard Randy Woolf said. "Now we're ready for Saturday."

The win marked second-year head coach Josh Mills' 50^th with the Blazers. It was also North Lake's 19^th straight victory this season. The Blazers improved to 14-0 at home, and extended their winning streak to 30-0 in the Blazer Dome over the past two seasons.

North Lake forward Anden Holmes finished with 17 points, six rebounds and two steals, and was one of four in double figures for the Blazers. He connected on 8 of 11 field goals.

Holmes scored in transition less than three minutes into the second half, and then buried a three-pointer to give North Lake a 45-29 lead. Autavius Hobbs, who had 14 points, connected on another 3-pointer to extend the lead to 17. Anthony Solomon drove baseline for a basket to push it to 52-33. But Mountain View's Josh Smith converted a three-point play, and then scored on a follow-up bucket to trim the gap to 52-38 with a little over 12 minutes remaining.

After Jordan Hicks scored to keep the Lions (16-15) within 14, North Lake ran off the next six points, stretching the lead out to 20 when Bryson Smith darted in for a lay-in at the 8:52 mark to make it 62-42. Mountain View's Doviyon Bradford hit a triple, and then scored again with 6:12 to go as the Lions used a 9-2 run to cut it to 64-51. But Hobbs converted a three-point play, and Holmes scored on a runout on a court-length find from Jermey Irwin during an 11-3 Blazers' surge to put the game away.

North Lake's Jakob Zenon scored 14 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and had one steal. Ring Deng had 12 points, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line, and nine rebounds. Woolf had nine points, four rebounds and two steals, and Daylen Webb seven points, eight boards, two steals and a block.

The Blazers were 26 of 63 from the field for 41 percent, but struggled from the 3-point arc, going 4 of 18. 

Bradford and Smith each had 15 for the Lions, who shot 21 of 61 from the floor, but were held to 2 of 21 from 3-point range. Smith also had seven rebounds, six blocks and two steals. Louis Conner had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Xavier Peyton seven points and four rebounds.

North Lake shot 27 of 35 from the free throw line. Mountain View was 16 of 24. 

The Blazers held the Lions to 26 points in the first half. North Lake outrebounded Mountain View, 45-31.

"Being able to play defense in this conference is really big," Woolf said. "Everybody can score, but not a lot of people can play defense. With our team, we just need to keep defending as hard as we can, and not allow these teams to score."

The Blazers advance to their third straight district championship game. They'll meet Richland for a second straight year for the title.

"As a team, we're all ready, mentally, physically," Woolf said. "We're ready to show everybody what we can do day in and day out."