Johnson and Johnson lead surging Old Mill

Heading into a big home showdown against North County that would significantly impact seeding in the playoffs, the No. 12 Old Mill boys basketball team was feeling confident, winners of nine in a row.

Their 10th consecutive victory came in a comprehensive effort on both sides of the ball, as Hollique Johnson, Daevone Johnson and Mahzi Thames all reached double figures while the Patriots stifled the Knights for only five points in the second quarter en route to a convincing 60-39 win.

“We have been preaching defense the last two and a half weeks,” Old Mill coach Mike Francis said. “We have been going back at it like day one in practice defensively because the gameslows downwhenyouget late in the year. In the playoffs, the scores are in the 50s. So if you can play defense and you can hold teams, then you are doing really well.”

Up 17-10 after the first quarter, Hollique Johnson asserted himself down low in the beginning of the second, scoring six points in the quarter. He finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

“I just keep an aggressive mindset and I know that if I fill my role it will help the team and benefit the team,” Hollique Johnson said. “I just go in there being aggressive and I attack the boards like I am supposed to and just finish.”

The Patriots closed the second quarter on an 8-0run, punctuated by Daevone Johnson's 3-pointer just before time expired on the half, giving Old Mill a 35-15 lead. He finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four steals.

“This win gives us lot of confidence,” Daevone Johnson said. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing, get rebounds and everybody has to play their role.”

Kris Peet scored 11 points with four rebounds, three blocks and a steal, while Daiton Lopez scored 10 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had two steals for the Knights, who played even with the Patriots in the second half but couldn’t overcome a tough second quarter.

“We forced a lot of bad shots, especially in that second quarter and they didn’t fall for us,” North County coach Trumaine Johnson said. “I’m proud of how they competed and battled until the end but we need to do a better job of not forcing shots.”

Mazhi Thames added 10 points and four rebounds for the Patriots, who went a long wayto securing homecourt advantage for the playoffs, a goal set long ago that’s not clearly in sight.

“We’ve put together a good string defensively, we are sharing the ball, we have a lot of guys scoring and that’s what we are going to need to do to be successful,” Francis said. “I’m happy about that right now, I think that with this team wehave a shot to make a run but we have to finish out strong. Hopefully we can finish strong enough to keep the number one seed, that’s all we want to do so we can have home games and play in front of our crowd.”