Hawks glide past Falcons in league opener

Matt Metcalf, Assistant Sports Editor
Posted 12/23/14

Speaking with Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes two weeks ago, he noted that his team would be really dangerous if the players bought-in on defense.

The Hawks took a big step in the right …

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Hawks glide past Falcons in league opener

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Speaking with Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes two weeks ago, he noted that his team would be really dangerous if the players bought-in on defense.

The Hawks took a big step in the right direction on Thursday night, surrendering just 20 points to Cranston West in a 63-20 thumping of the Falcons.

“The staple for our whole program is defense,” Gomes said.

West raced out to a 4-0 lead early in the game, while stifling the Hawks on offense, playing a physical brand of basketball with Hendricken’s top scorer, Justin Mazzulla.

However, over the next 10 minutes of play, the Hawks went on a 16-0 run to completely take control of the game.

While the Falcons played well defensively in the first half, only allowing 22 points to arguably the best team in the state, they were visibly disrupted by Hendricken’s length and weren’t able to find any offensive rhythm.

“Offensively we struggled in the first half, but I was happy with our defense,” West head coach John Macera said.

Gomes felt the same way about his offense in the first half, as the Hawks missed many clean looks.

“Offensively, I have to break out some three-point shooting drills,” Gomes said jokingly. “We had clean, open looks, but they just weren’t going down.”

Even with the Hawks’ offensive struggles, they still took a 22-8 lead into halftime.

Mazzulla led the Hawks with six points in the first half, while Anthony Lopez-Veras had five of the Falcons’ eight points.

In the second half, it was all Hawks.

Hendricken forced West to turn the ball over early and often, sparking a 10-0 Hawks’ run in the first 1:30 of the second half.

The run gave Hendricken a 32-8 lead, a lead that it would only build upon as the half progressed.

For West, there weren’t many positives to take from the second half.

“We took some big steps back tonight,” Macera said. “In the second half, nothing worked. We went back to a lot of old habits.”

The Hawks outscored the Falcons 41-12 in the second half, but with its first game out of the way against the defending state champions, West will look to improve and move forward.

“This isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning,” Macera said. “We’re going to have nights like this. You’re looking at one of the best, if not the best team in the state. We’re going to experience growing pains.”

Hendricken got contributions up and down the lineup in Thursday night’s win, as nine players scored in the victory, led by Mazzulla with a game-high 14 points.

Point guard Kyle Henseler was the only other Hawks’ player in double-figures with 10 points, as he drained two second-half 3-pointers.

Freshman standout Preston Santos also showed glimpses of his great potential, chipping in with eight points for the Hawks. Santos had an impressive and-1 in the second half, as well as an emphatic dunk in the final two minutes of the game.

“He has a lot to learn and he wants to learn,” Gomes said. “He’s easy to coach and he’s extremely athletic. He’s had some practices where I walk out of there and I’m like ‘wow.’ I’m hoping that midway through the season that he’s a force to be reckoned with out there.”

Senior big man Ira Lough was also great on the glass all game long and netted seven points as well.

“I was happy with the balanced scoring, but we have a lot to clean up,” Gomes said.

For the Falcons, Brett Bucci finished with four points and Sam Franco had three, in addition to the seven from Lopez-Veras.

With its first league game against a tough opponent behind it, West will be looking to get back to work.

“We taped the game, so we’ll watch it and pick out some of our mistakes,” Macera said. “It’s not going to be an individual, it’s going to have to be a team effort. We’re going to need everyone to step up.”

With the win, the Hawks improve to 1-0 in Division I, while West falls to 0-1.

West will host Johnson for a non-league contest on Friday at 7p.m., while the Hawks will continue league play tonight, when they travel to North Kingstown to take on the Skippers at 7 p.m.

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