Lions Upend Blazers to Reach First District Title Game in Decade

AT HOBBS' 4-POINT PLAY 

DALLAS – Dallas College Mountain View finally solved the North Lake riddle.

The fifth-seeded Lions beat No. 2-seeded Dallas College North Lake 95-87 in overtime in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South District semifinals Thursday night at Dallas College Richland. It was Mountain View's first win over North Lake in the district semifinals in the last five meetings.

Mountain View (14-18) will meet host Richland (20-10) for the district championship 3 p.m. Saturday in Thunderducks Gym. TSBN will carry the game.

The Lions' last trip to the district title game was 2015 when they fell to Richland.

Mountain View led by 21 in the second half before North Lake (16-15) stormed back to pull within five on David Clower's coast-to-coast layup with 3:15 to go in regulation. It capped a 10-0 Blazers' run. Ashton Price's three-pointer from the top of the key pushed the Lions back ahead 76-68. After North Lake's Autavius Hobbs hit a 3 and sank two free throws with 1:18 to go to cut the gap to four, Augustine Chibuko split a pair from the free throw line.

The Lions, who missed five free throws inside the last two minutes, had their lead trimmed to three when A'Marie Haywood scored on a putback. After Price hit one of two free throws with 22.1 seconds left to make it a four-point game, North Lake's Anden Holmes sank free throws with 15.5 seconds left. Louis Conner hit a pair from the stripe with 13.9 seconds remaining before Hobbs buried a 3-pointer from 30 feet out, and was fouled with eight seconds on the clock. He sank the free throw to tie it, sending the game to overtime.

Conner hit a driving a layup that gave the Lions a five-point lead in the extra period, and Noel Duplechain's bucket with 1:01 put the game away.

Price finished with 31 points on 10-of-24 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. He was 9 for 16 from the free throw line. Louis Conner had 16 and 11 of Mountain View's 18 assists, while going 9 for 10 from the stripe. Tracy White and Duplechain each had 10 points.

The Lions shot 40.8 percent, going 29 of 71. They were 9 of 30 from long range, while sinking 28 of 46 free throws.

It was North Lake's first postseason loss in the last five games and the Blazers' first in the district tournament since the championship game in 2022.

Mountain View beat North Lake for the first time this season in four meetings. It was the Lions' first win over the Blazers since April 5, 2021.