The Bishop Hendricken basketball team fell to top-seeded Classical 59-47 last weekend in the DiAZvision I Semifinals.

Despite trailing just 24-21 at halftime, the Hawks would lose their grip in the third quarter and fall behind by 10 as the fourth began. Classical’s defense forced turnovers throughout the final two quarters while its offense capitalized, which would be the difference in the end.

“We made a lot of mistakes with turnovers. You can’t turn the ball over against Classical because they turn them into points. We’ve been saying the last few days that Classical plays their best basketball in the second half,” said Hendricken coach Jamal Gomes. “We got careless with ball. We call them bad turnovers - when you turn the ball over and they score right away off them. I can’t tell you how many times that happened. We’re better than that, we worked hard but we didn’t execute.”

Freshman Michael D’Ambra led the way for Hendricken with 17 points scored.

The reigning champs are not unfamiliar with the spot they’re in, as they fell to La Salle in last year’s divisional championship before winning the rematch two weeks later in the state final.

Gomes and his staff are hoping to use the break between tournaments to make adjustments.

“We’re very fortunate that this is the divisional round, so it’s not our season. We have five days to practice together, so we’ll get a chance to get back out there. We’ll need to do some soul searching and we’ll see what we can do from there,” said Gomes.

Classical big man Jordan Duke was also a problem for the Hendricken offense all day, as the Hawks struggled to find offense in the paint. Hendricken’s shooters produced in spurts, but it was not enough to keep pace with the Purple down the stretch.

A“They run a switching man-to-man defense and (Duke’s) a big, strong man in the paint, there’s nothing easy. We had no easy lanes to the basket,” said Gomes. “To start the game, we struggled shooting but began to pick it up. But we knew we had to take care of the ball. When you expose the ball and turn the ball over, their speed and athleticism overwhelms you.”

Hendricken will take on Cumberland this Saturday in the opening round of the state tournament.