The Hendricken basketball team was expecting to get some resilience from Chris Herren and Portsmouth in the Elite 8 at Brown on Sunday.

However, the Hawks got anything but that.

Due to Herren being sidelined with the flu, they squared off with a severely undermanned Portsmouth team.

And as a result, Hendricken posted the most lopsided victory of the four Elite 8 games by a landslide, cruising to an 85-32 triumph.

The Hawks spent Friday and Saturday putting together a defensive strategy that would hopefully limit Herren’s production. Even though Hendricken didn’t get to put that game plan to use, it still displayed an overwhelming defensive effort.

“I was really looking forward to playing Chris Herren today because, the last couple of days, we’ve been putting together a game plan to combat him,” Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes said. “But unfortunately he was sick, and it’s certainly bad timing for them. But we didn’t approach it any different – we knew we had to get out and play defense for us to be successful. Our goal was to get better defensively, and I saw some better things from us on the defensive end.”

Hendricken used its size to its advantage early and often, creating a large margin on the scoreboard right away.

The Hawks charged out to a 13-0 lead, with Portsmouth getting a free throw from John Coyne over five minutes in to get his team on the board.

The Patriots’ first field goal wouldn’t come until over six minutes in, when senior guard Darnell Taylor sank a triple. But even with the 3, the deficit for Portsmouth was 11.

And it would only grow from there.

Billy Mueller hit the offensive glass with 6:35 to go in the opening half, collecting a board before converting a layup to stretch the lead to 26-6.

Less than a minute later, Justin Mazzulla stole the ball in the defensive halfcourt and pushed the ball ahead to Preston Santos, who finished at the tin with a one-handed jam.

Mueller would score the final five points of the half for the Hawks. He drilled a 3 off a nice post pass from Trevor Lawton, and Mueller closed the scoring in the half with a jumper to give Hendricken a 41-21 lead at the break.

The Hawks came out even stronger in the second half, too, outscoring Portsmouth 44-11.

Mazzulla grabbed an offensive board a couple of minutes in, before going up strong and making the hoop while getting fouled. He would sink the free throw for a 3-point play that increased the lead to 48-24.

Everyone got in on the action for the Hawks from there.

Dimitri Rosa netted 10 of his game-high 13 points after halftime, as he swished a pair from long range.

Mazzulla also started the half strong before exiting the game early, scoring seven of his 13 in the opening minutes of the second half, as he shared game-high honors with Rosa.

Mazzulla and Rosa were just two of five Hawks that scored in double figures.

Lawton posted 12 points, while Preston Santos and Mueller scored 11 apiece. Senior guard Matt Ricci also came on strong off the bench late, making his presence felt with seven points and five rebounds of his own.

Gomes was focused on his players not looking past Portsmouth going into Sunday. It’s safe to say that the Hawks took that message to heart and buckled down.

“The past three days, that’s what we’ve been hammering,” Gomes said of his message to take one game at a time. “There was one team in the way of us getting back to The Ryan Center, and until we take care of that, we can’t even worry about another team. But we’re happy that we get to move on and got the W. I’m proud that we were able to stay focused and get the win.”

Hendricken coasted into the Elite 8 with a 77-48 victory over Johnston in the Sweet 16 behind three scorers with 20-plus points.

Santos led the way with a game-high 24 points in that win, while Mazzulla netted 22 and Lawton posted a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Now, the Hawks have a matchup with a familiar foe in the Final Four.

Hendricken will play Classical at 4 p.m. at The Ryan Center on Saturday – the same team that defeated it in the Division I final, 82-71, a couple of weeks back.

Last time the two teams met, the Hawks had no answer for guards Rodney Theodore and David Duke, as the two combined for 56 points en route to the title-clinching victory.

This time around, though, Hendricken will be ready for Duke and Theodore. It knows that it’ll have to limit their production if it wants to advance.

“The kitchen sink, we’re going to have to throw everything at them because those guys are really good players,” Gomes said when asked how his team will try to slow down Theodore and Duke. “We have to find a way to contain them. But they’re more than just those two guys – Jamari Johnson on the inside. We’ll have to find a way. It’ll come down to defense, though. It’ll be defense.”

The winner of the Hendricken/Classical game will play the winner of La Salle/Smithfield on Sunday at The Ryan Center at 6 p.m. for the state title.