Hawks hold off Saints for D-I title

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 3/7/17

It seems as though Hendricken's 25-point defeat at St. Ray's back on Jan. 13 served as a season-changer for the Hawks, a bit of a wakeup call. Since then, Hendricken has rattled off 14 consecutive wins - its latest coming

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Hawks hold off Saints for D-I title

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It seems as though Hendricken’s 25-point defeat at St. Ray’s back on Jan. 13 served as a season-changer for the Hawks, a bit of a wakeup call.

Since then, Hendricken has rattled off 14 consecutive wins – its latest coming against the aforementioned Saints at CCRI in the D-I title game on Sunday evening.

The Hawks were the superior team from the jump, racing out to a 15-point lead by the midway point of the first half before holding off St. Ray’s the rest of the way in a 63-54 victory.

There was no question that the first matchup between the two teams weighed fresh on the minds of Hendricken players heading into Sunday.

“It’s motivated us a lot,” Hendricken forward T.J. Weeks said of the loss to the Saints back in January. “It’s motivated us through every game we’ve been through. It made us come together as a team.”

The Hawks needed extra time to get by upset-minded Mount Pleasant in the semifinals on Friday, with sophomore point guard Bobby Fiorito drilling a buzzer-beating 3 in double overtime to send his team to the title game.

On Sunday, however, no such drama was needed.

Hendricken powered its way to a 23-8 lead over the first nine minutes of the first half, as St. Ray’s couldn’t find answers for Isaiah Mylers, Weeks or Justin Mazzulla over the first 16 minutes, with the three players combining for 24 of the Hawks’ 33 first-half points.

The Saints began to find a groove towards the end of the first half. Willie Washington swished an elbow jumper and Huascar Beato knocked down a triple to trim the Saints’ deficit to seven, 24-17, with 4:10 left in the first half.

A pair of free throws and a strong drive to the hoop from Weeks late kept the Saints at a distance, though, as the Hawks took a 33-24 lead into the break.

In the second half, Mazzulla took over. He scored the first nine points of the half for the Hawks to discourage the Saints’ comeback chances.

Washington caught fire early in the second half, knocking down back-to-back 3s to cut the deficit to six, and St. Ray’s would get as close as four on a floater in the paint from Beato.

Weeks answered on the ensuing possession as he out-leaped a defender for an offensive rebound and tip-in to push Hendricken’s lead back out to six, and St. Ray’s never got closer than that again.

Weeks swished a baseline jumper with 2:55 left to make it a nine-point game, before Mazzulla threw down an emphatic breakaway dunk with just over a minute left to seal the victory.

Mazzulla would score 13 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. He also posted 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Weeks chipped in with a double-double of his own with 17 points and 11 boards, while Mylers netted nine of his 12 points in the first half.

Washington finished with a game-high 21 points for St. Ray’s, and senior forward Trevante Jones had 14.

What followed the final buzzer was a tame and casual celebration for the Hawks. Winning the Division I championship was certainly a goal, but they have their sights set on a bigger prize – the state title.

“I’m not really big on celebrating for this one because we still have the open tournament,” Mazzulla said. “I don’t want to get complacent, none of our guys want to get complacent. We’re just going to keep working hard and move forward like we never won this.”

Now, the Hawks will turn their attention to the state tournament, which will open on Thursday. With the victory on Sunday, Hendricken clinched the top overall seed for the 16-team open tournament.

“It felt good to come out here and get a win over a good team, but our goal is a step further, it’s the next tournament,” Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes said. “A Division I title is awesome, but our focus when I get in that locker room is going to be that we have a game Thursday. We have to get it together and figure out how we’re going to move on from there.”

The Hawks will draw No. 16 South Kingstown in the first round – a familiar division opponent. Hendricken has played the Rebels three times, including in the quarterfinals of the division tournament, and the Hawks have prevailed by double digits in all three contests.

But, anything can happen during tournament time. Every team is only one loss away from going home.

Hendricken’s D-I title run certainly makes it the favorite entering the state tournament, but it knows that it has plenty of work to do if it wants to win a second straight state crown.

“This is what we wanted to do, but we’re not done yet,” Weeks said following Sunday’s game.

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