It looked to be all over on several occasions Monday night.

The Justin Mazzulla alley-oop to make it 13-4. Mazzulla’s 3-pointer that gave Hendricken a 38-24 lead. Nick Mueller’s field goal off an Isaiah Mylers pass to put the Hawks comfortably ahead, 58-44, during the second half.

Coventry just wouldn’t fade, though. The Oakers kept battling down the stretch, feeding off the energy of their high-intensity crowd and stout full-court press, to get within single digits in the final minutes.

“Coventry’s a very dangerous team,” Hendricken assistant coach Brett Kearns said. “A lot of kids that can hurt you with the 3-point shot from the perimeter. Their guards are very, very quick. They’re a very tough team to defend. I think that a lot of the mistakes we made were self-inflicted.”

The young Hendricken starting five held serve, though, to secure a 74-65 victory to begin the Division I slate. Outside of Mazzulla, the Hawks rolled out four new starters who predominantly saw bench minutes last season.

Mazzulla was nearly unstoppable, pouring in 34 points to go with 12 rebounds, three steals and a block. He received help from his fellow first-teamers, too. Nick Mueller (11) and Jalen Watson (10) each reached double-figures, while Isaiah Mylers and Bobby Fiorito each had balanced nights.

Mylers only scored four points, but pulled down nine rebounds. Fiorito’s final line was nine points, four rebounds, one block and one steal.

It was the first significant action this particular starting five had seen together and, despite some panic during crunch time, passed their first test.

“We have excellent seniors with Justin and Isaiah,” Kearns said. “We have a lot of returners from last year, but not a lot of kids that have a lot of game experience. There’s always a maturation process that goes on with that. Justin and Isaiah have been very, very good, especially in practice, keeping these kids encouraged and giving them the feedback to be confident on the floor.”

After the aforementioned Mueller basket to make it a 14-point game, Coventry ripped off a 14-4 run to make it a 62-58 game. Cole Ferguson and Joshua Najarian led the charge, hitting plenty of second-chance buckets as Hendricken struggled for defensive rebounds.

Watson hit a pair of clutch free throws with three minutes to go, giving the Hawks a slim 64-58 lead. The Oakers would continue to pester the Hawks after that, but it never got closer than two possessions.

After earning zero free throws during the first half, Hendricken stepped to the line 18 times after the break. It made 13, most of those coming when Coventry needed to foul.

“That inequity is too much of a disparity,” Kearns said. “We have to do a better job of trying to attack the rim better and get to the foul line in both halves. We did a better job in the second half attacking the rim and made a much better percentage in the second half, but that’s got to be a balance.”

Fiorito was perfect from the stripe, giving the Hawks eight- and nine-point leads to help lock in the win. His performance from at the line underscored an impressive debut at point guard for the sophomore.

“Bobby has a ton of potential,” Kearns said. “Bobby’s very athletic. He really can get to the rim well. He’s just learning what it really means to be a varsity-level player, in terms of being able to be controlled and handle the basketball, without making those mistakes. He got a little careless with the ball tonight, but that comes with just game experience and time.”

There were contributions all around from Hendricken, but it was Mazzulla who was the catalyst for the win. He split up his 34 points evenly, recording 17 during each half, as the Oakers grappled with his agility and size.

When Coventry got close, Mazzulla would find a way to get to the hoop and either lay one in or force a foul.

His defense, which is always aggressive, turned into offense as well. He picked up a steal-and-score to give Hendricken a 60-48 lead late in the second half.

After hitting a free throw with 2:35 to go that made it 65-58, he poked the ball loose in the paint at the other end to force a turnover.

Mazzulla was all over the court, and his dominance forced extra attention that gave his teammates chances. Coventry took a brief lead during the first half, 18-15, but Mazzulla answered with four straight points to set off a 14-0 team run that put Hendricken ahead for good. Mueller, Watson and Andre De Los Santos all had buckets during that span.

“Justin’s been with us four years, he’s obviously played a lot of high-level basketball,” Kearns said. “He understands what he needs to do to be successful. We have stuff in place that can get him the ball in various situations to make him successful, whether it’s against man or zone. Him being with us for four years, and teams having to game plan against him, he’s able to adapt more.”

The lengthy senior gave his all, and he literally left it all on the court. He took a charge in the final minute and had his tooth knocked out. He would take a brief breather before returning to finish the game.

“He was big for us tonight, we needed him,” Kearns said.

Next up for the Hawks was an early test against North Kingstown, which is coming off a 68-48 win against Cranston West, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Results were unavailable at press time.

After the Skippers, Hendricken travels to South Kingstown tomorrow at 6 p.m. for a showdown with the Rebels.