Sentinels outlast Hawks in battle of D-I powers

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 2/11/16

The Bishop Hendricken basketball team came up short in one of its toughest tests to date on Tuesday night, falling at Smithfield, 51-43, in a battle of one-loss teams in Division I.

Hendricken …

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Sentinels outlast Hawks in battle of D-I powers

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The Bishop Hendricken basketball team came up short in one of its toughest tests to date on Tuesday night, falling at Smithfield, 51-43, in a battle of one-loss teams in Division I.

Hendricken held a 30-24 lead with 9:32 remaining in the second half when sophomore Preston Santos was fouled hard by Nate Patenaude while rising for a dunk, falling on his left wrist. The injury forced Santos to come out of the game, and when he returned a few minutes later with that shooting wrist taped, he was a non-factor, clearly playing at less than 100-percent.

The Santos injury swung the momentum in Smithfield’s favor, oddly enough, as the Sentinels went on a 27-11 run from that point on.

“The trainer checked it out, and I don’t think it’s broken or anything like that, but it was his shooting hand,” Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes said of Santos’ injury. “After he went down and got hurt, it was a 27-11 run by Smithfield. That can’t happen.”

After a first half in which Hendricken held the Sentinels to just 16 points on their home floor, taking a 19-16 lead into the break, the Hawks continually committed costly turnovers in the second half.

As a result, Smithfield poured in 35 points in the final 16 minutes.

“We didn’t play smart,” Gomes said. “We had three turnovers where we directly gave the ball to Smithfield for scores. We need to smarten up because that, truthfully, is the difference between winning a championship and not. There are good turnovers and bad turnovers. Bad turnovers lead to direct baskets for the other team, and our turnovers were bad.”

But in the first half, Hendricken limited its turnovers and played smart basketball on both ends.

After a slow first few minutes, a Dimitri Rosa 3-pointer opened up a 5-4 lead for the Hawks.

And Hendricken continued to tack on to its lead, as Santos nailed a baseline jumper to push the lead to 5, before Isaiah Mylers hit the offensive glass for a rebound and layup with 6:35 left in the first half to make it 15-8.

But Smithfield would chip away, cutting its deficit to 3, 19-16, at halftime. The Sentinels had a shot to tie it going into the locker room, but a 3-pointer from point guard Isaiah Roman was off the mark.

Smithfield would carry that momentum into the second half, as it was able to take its first lead since the opening minutes of the game with 13 minutes to go on a jumper from senior shooting guard Steven Aiello, giving the Sentinels a 22-21 advantage.

Hendricken would regain the lead on the ensuing possession on a floater from Kyle Henseler, and a driving layup from Justin Mazzulla less than a minute later gave the Hawks a 25-22 lead.

But a slew of fouls that the Hawks picked up early in the half proved to be costly as the second half wore on.

Hendricken was in the penalty just six minutes into the second half, and Smithfield’s senior-laden lineup made the Hawks pay, sinking a high percentage of those free throws in the final 10 minutes.

“We fouled too much, and played with our hands way too much,” Gomes said of his team piling up fouls in the second half. “With 10 or 11 minutes left in the second half, they’re at the free throw line shooting 1-and-1.”

Rosa drilled a 3 with 7:19 to go, pushing the Hawks ahead 37-34, but that’s the last lead they would hold.

A 3 from Brian Goodwin on the ensuing possession knotted the game at 37, before Aiello converted a layup shortly after to push the Sentinels ahead for good.

A jumper from Billy Mueller cut Hendricken’s deficit to 4, 47-43, with 50 seconds left, but four free throws from captain Joshua Gorgone in the final minute helped to secure the win for the home team.

Hendricken will be back in action on Friday, and it’ll be another tough one, when the Hawks travel to East Providence (10-3) for a 7 p.m. tip.

“We have a tough game Friday – we have to go to East Providence, who is playing very well,” Gomes said. “But our team didn’t quit tonight and I love that – we battled, we battled, we battled. We have the effort thing down, we just didn’t play smart tonight.”

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