Back-to-Back Blazers: North Lake Captures Second Straight District Title

RING DENG INTERVIEW

JOSH MILLS INTERVIEW

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

IRVING, Texas – North Lake has blazed its way to the top again.

Second-ranked Dallas College North Lake men's basketball team beat No. 8 Dallas College Richland, 65-59, in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South Central District Championship game Saturday in the Blazer Dome. The win sends the Blazers (26-4) back to the NJCAA Division III Tournament for a third straight year.

"Really proud of our guys. We have a really tough group to win as much as we have lately," North Lake second-year head coach Josh Mills said. "I feel like we're just continuing to get better."

The Blazers won their 20^th consecutive game, and extended their home winning streak to 31-0 over the past two seasons. Sophomores Ring Deng, Jakob Zenon and Randy Woolf went unbeaten in the Blazer Dome in their two-year North Lake careers.

"Man, it's not over yet," Deng said on a day he scored 11 points, and came up with the defensive play of the game. "We got to come out there, and we've got to go get that ring."

Richland (16-9) built a 17-10 lead at the 11:27 mark in the first half when Cjay Ingram converted a three-point play. The Thunderducks bumped the lead to nine before North Lake's Autavius Hobbs canned a 3-pointer. Deng hit a turnaround jumper around the 8:00 mark to cut Richland's lead to five. Richland's Barack Holland buried a 3 to push the lead back to eight.

North Lake used a 7-2 run, touched off by an Anthony Solomon free throw as the Blazers drew within 25-22. Ingram rebounded his own free throw and scored to extend the lead back to eight. But North Lake didn't let the lead swell any bigger.

Woolf wiggled inside and scored on tightly-contested shot with two minutes remaining in the half. Hobbs scored on an off-balance shot, and was fouled inside the last minute. He hit the free throw to pull the Blazers within 31-30 at halftime.

"Richland's a really tough team, a well-coached team," Mills said. "They're always a tough out for us or anybody else. They are a team that's ready to play every single game."

Woolf, who finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and a steal, while going 7-for-8 from the free throw line, converted a three-point play 2:15 into the second half to give the Blazers their first lead, 35-33. On the next trip down the floor, Richland's Jamille Barnett used a three-point play of his own to put the Thunderducks back on top. After Woolf and Richland's Taven Washington traded 3s, Deng spun and scored on a find from Woolf to give North Lake a 45-41 lead with 12:20 to play.

Zion Bourgeois tipped in a bucket with 9:15 left on the clock to push the Thunderducks back in control, 47-46. Jermey Irwin scored two straight baskets, giving the Blazers a three-point lead. Woolf sank two free throws to put North Lake in front, 54-49, at the 5:37 mark. Washington answered with a turnaround jumper, and split a pair from the line with just over four minutes to go as the Thunderducks cut it to 54-52.

After Hobbs hit two free throws, Richland's Elijah Brown canned a 3 to make it a one-point game. Deng buried a triple of his own, and the Blazers led, 59-55. A minute later, Deng chased down the Thunderducks on a breakaway, blocking the shot that would have tied the game.

"Defense wins championships, and everybody knows that," Deng said after his final game in the Blazer Dome, in which he grabbed nine boards, and had two blocks and a steal. "If you've got a team that's willing to dive on the ground, go get every loose ball, go get the chase-down blocks, you know you've got a winning team."

Deng's block led to two free throws by Jakob Zenon for a 61-57 lead at the 1:52 mark.

"We've been talking about how tough plays win games, and that was one of the toughest plays," Mills said of Deng's basket-erasing block. "There were a couple other plays where we were first to the floor, and those types of plays seem to work out into the favor of the teams who's willing to make those types of plays."

Zenon and Bryson Smith each sank two free throws inside the last minute as North Lake sealed another trip to Herkimer, New York for the national tournament.

Hobbs had 11 points and a steal, and Zenon 10 points and 11 rebounds, along with a steal and a block. Smith had seven points, eight rebounds and a steal. Washington led the Thunderducks with 16, and Ingram had 12. The Blazers shot 19 of 55 from the floor, and were held to 3 of 16 from long distance. They were 24 of 32 from the line, and only recorded seven assists. 

North Lake will learn its national tournament seeding during the NJCAA Selection Show 1 p.m. CT Wednesday on the NJCAA Network.

The Blazers will be making their second straight trip to Herkimer for the national tournament. They lost their two games in New York a year ago.

"It was a failed season last year," Deng said. "We'll try to redeem ourselves this year."