There has been a family-like atmosphere surrounding the Bishop Hendricken basketball team all season long.

So when the Hawks faced a 7-point deficit at halftime against La Salle in the state championship on Sunday night, head coach Jamal Gomes urged each player to leave everything they had on the floor for the guy sitting next to them.

“That’s what we talked about in the locker room at halftime, we said ‘We can’t let each other down,”’ Gomes said. “When we walk out of here, win or lose, you better have done your absolute best.”

That message resonated with the Hawks, who raced out to a 17-2 run to start the second half, as they came back to defeat the Rams, 62-57, to claim the state title at The Ryan Center.

While other teams’ starting lineups were announced as individuals all year long, the Hawks chose to be announced as a team. And when the captains were called up to get the championship trophy following the win, it wasn’t just a few players that came forward. Rather, the entirety of Hendricken’s roster approached the awards stand – just like it’s been announced all season – as one.

“It’s a great atmosphere because there aren’t any individuals,” Hendricken MVP Justin Mazzulla said. “It’s great because we came together as a family, and it shows, because we wanted to work hard for each other and show each other what teamwork is. I love my team like a family. We were going to work our hardest, and that showed today.”

Hendricken flew out of the gates in the first half, pacing the early scoring and taking a 6-0 lead.

Michael McCourt, who scored 44 points in the only meeting of the season between the two teams, wasn’t about to let the Hawks just blow his Rams out of the gym.

The senior guard went on to score 15 of the Rams’ first 19 points, and he was the main reason why La Salle took a 32-25 advantage into the break.

But it was all Hawks to start the second half.

Mazzulla collected an offensive board and scored on the Hawks’ first possession and, after McCourt was called for traveling, Mazzulla drove the lane for another layup to trim the deficit to just four.

Mazzulla continued to wreak havoc, too. On the defensive end roughly a minute later, he intercepted a pass before going in for an easy deuce, making it a 1-point game and triggering La Salle head coach Eric Simonelli to call a timeout.

Talking it over wouldn’t help the Rams in the slightest.

After the Hawks got another stop, Preston Santos hit the offensive glass for a board and put-back to give the Hawks a 35-34 lead.

While the Rams continued to struggle from the field, Hendricken couldn’t miss, attacking the paint and converting.

With just south of 10 minutes left, Trevor Lawton grabbed an offensive board of his own, before dishing to Dimitri Rosa for a lay-in to stretch the Hawks’ lead to eight.

That margin grew to 12 at the six-minute mark, when Lawton powered his way to the hoop for a bucket while getting fouled. He would miss the free throw, but the lead still sat at 50-38.

The Rams would show some fight late, with McCourt drilling a 3, before Lawrence Sabir drove to the rim for an old-fashioned 3-point play. Hendricken’s lead was ultimately trimmed to just three, 54-51.

Mazzulla would answer, though, going to the block and spinning off a defender for an uncontested lay-in, pushing the Hawks’ lead out to five with two minutes left.

A key stop for Hendricken on the ensuing possession would end any dream that La Salle had of becoming the back-to-back state champion, as Lawton grabbed the defensive rebound and got fouled, sending him to the line for two free throws. He would make both to increase the lead to seven, 58-51.

The Rams chipped away with a couple of late buckets, but free throws from Kyle Henseler and Lawton iced the title-clinching victory.

After allowing McCourt to score 15 points over the first 10 minutes of play, Hendricken held La Salle’s top scorer to eight points over the final 22 minutes. It was a matter of just focusing in.

“We just played defense,” Mazzulla said. “We didn’t play [McCourt] from the jump, and he killed us. All we had to do was strap up, play defense and I don’t know what to tell you. Defense wins championships.”

So does a balanced offensive attack.

The Hawks had four scorers in double figures – Mazzulla and Lawton scored 14 apiece and Henseler and Santos each netted 10. Rosa wasn’t far behind with nine.

It was really just a two-man show for La Salle, which got a game-high 23 points from McCourt and 14 from Sabir.

The title was Hendricken’s ninth in 13 years, second in the last six years and its 15th overall.