Hoops team reaches for title

The North Lake Blazers basketball team will take the court in early November with a definitive goal for the season.

“We want to win our national championship,” said Head Coach Tim McGraw.

The buzz surrounding the Blazers has many believing that a trip to play for the national championship is within their reach. A win in this year’s Metro Athletic Conference (MAC) championship game will send the Blazers to compete for a national championship in Delhi, N.Y.

Returning for his ninth year as head coach, McGraw is excited by what he sees on the floor. He feels the team is loaded with depth at every position on the roster.

“We have a lot of similar players at the same level to replace one another, so we don’t have to depend on four or five kids,” McGraw said.

Experience could be another key factor for the team. The Blazers have eight returning players from last year’s squad. They finished with an impressive 19-11 record and tied for first in the MAC last season. The Blazers were defeated in the final game of the conference championship last year, robbing them of the opportunity to compete for the national championship.

“All the kids we have coming back can play,” said McGraw. “We have more kids coming back than we ever have, so we’re really optimistic about our chances.”

Even though the Blazers have more returning players heading into this season than in previous years, it’s been the latest recruiting class that has drawn rave reviews from the coaching staff.

Last March, the staff evaluated 185 potential prospects to find new talent to create a winning team. Fourteen new teammates have been brought on board to complement the returning eight.

“We have several good transfers, several good freshmen, so recruiting was good,” McGraw said.

During the off-season, the Blazers focused on the development of specific aspects of their game. An emphasis was placed on improving their shot selection and defensive intensity.

“We realized that we need to improve defensively. The tighter games get, the more urgent they get, the more important they get, the offensive aspect of the game tenses up and defense needs to compensate for that,” he said.

With pre-season preparations complete, the team is set to head off for its first game. The Blazers will tip off the season on the road at the Thunderbird Classic tournament in Hobbs, N.M., on Nov. 3. The tournament provides an excellent test to measure the success of their off-season training.

After the tournament, the Blazers return home Nov. 12 to face Paul Quinn College JV at Neil Johnston Gymnasium on the NLC campus. Admission is free.

Coach McGraw exudes a great deal of confidence in this year’s team. He said, “We’re going to be an extremely exciting team this year.”