The La Salle Rams held off Bishop Hendricken 45-41 to win the Division I boys basketball title on Tuesday night at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence.

Offense was hard to come by for each team throughout the duration of the contest, as Tuesday’s final was the lowest-scoring since the 1976 season. Each team was also held to its lowest league score of the year.

La Salle boasted the state’s best offense heading into the matchup, so a sound defensive effort was needed by the Hawks. Although that’s exactly what they got – it was not enough as the Rams also played strong defense while each club struggled to find its rhythm shooting. 

“This isn’t a high school gym. It’s a different setup, different experience for the boys. Each team battled hard on defense, battled hard on the glass. I was proud of the way the boys defended, it was probably our best defensive effort of the season, but you have to score points,” said Hendricken coach Jamal Gomes. “It was two heavyweight teams going at it. It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but you have to give credit to La Salle. They made the plays and they made the shots. They earned that win.”

Michael D’Ambra led the Hawks with 15 points while Jakob Reyes added eight. Hendricken will now flip the page to the open state tournament, which gets underway on Saturday when it takes on No. 15 Shea.

Despite the tough loss, Gomes was pleased with the team’s performance and expects it to regroup in time for the state tournament. 

“We had to (play strong defense) going into this game. I told them, ‘I’m not disappointed, I’m not upset, I’m not angry.’ We came in with a good game plan and executed it. We just couldn’t make the shots and sometimes that happens in the game of basketball,” said Gomes.