Hendricken holds off La Salle's second-half rally

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 1/19/17

As though La Salle needed more reasons to dislike Chris Hindle and Justin Mazzulla, two athletes who have pried a combined three titles from the Rams. On Tuesday night, they continued to plague their bitter

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Hendricken holds off La Salle's second-half rally

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As though La Salle needed more reasons to dislike Chris Hindle and Justin Mazzulla, two athletes who have pried a combined three titles from the Rams.

On Tuesday night, they continued to plague their bitter rivals. Hindle sank a wide-open 3-pointer with under four minutes to go to give Hendricken a 52-44 lead and silence the road crowd. When crunch time called again, with the Hawks leading 54-51 with 2.9 seconds to go, Mazzulla sank both ends of a 1-and-1 to put the game to rest.

It was a tense second half that saw Hendricken’s 15-point halftime lead dwindle to as few as three, but Mazzulla and Hindle combined for 20 in the second half to prevent the collapse.

“We felt going into this game that this was a character, gut-check for us, after getting punched in the face Friday at St. Ray’s [71-46],” Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes said. “We made some adjustments to the lineup, and we showed some strong toughness, some resiliency, some battle.”

Those adjustments included two changes to the starting lineup, as Angel Sanchez and Chris Hindle took the spots of Bobby Fiorito and Nick Mueller, respectively. The latter two entered the game a few minutes in, but the changes added an offensive spark to the Hawks’ lineup.

“Everybody’s got to be ready to play hard every game,” Gomes said. “There’s no entitlement. Everyone needs to be ready to battle. What happened to us on Friday [at St. Ray’s] will not happen to us again. I will not allow it to happen. So our guys that show it in practice, that are going to battle hard in practice, we’ll be the guys who get the majority of playing time, whether they start or not.”

Seven different Hendricken players recorded a field goal during the first half, but Mazzulla led the way. Isaiah Mylers threw down two jams and Mueller got a jumper to fall to build the lead to 18-8 before Mazzulla became unstoppable.

He sank a mid-range shot before earning an and-1 off a Mylers steal. He hit a straightaway 3-pointer soon after to further cushion the advantage, 25-10. That’s where the margin would stay heading into the break, as Kahlin Watkins, Sanchez and Fiorito got field goals to fall that sent Hendricken to a 32-17 lead.

“I thought our first half was one of our best first halves of the season,” Gomes said. “And then, in the second half, La Salle had a great game plan. They changed things up. They double-teamed, triple-teamed Justin, tried to keep four guys in his path to the basket, but we showed some grit.”

La Salle’s Manny Roman and Brenden Cavaco led the comeback charge after the break. The defense on Mazzulla forced him to kick opportunities out to his teammates, but their shots stopped finding nylon.

“We went through a drought of probably a good six or seven minutes where I don’t think we scored a basket,” Gomes said. “That allowed La Salle to get a little comfortable, to come back into the game, to gain some confidence, to gain some rhythm. Then it became a rock fight. I knew La Salle wasn’t going to fold.”

Max Gorriaran and Cavaco connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit down to 38-33. Mazzulla answered with a free throw, followed by a Hindle layup, to get the lead back out to eight, 41-33. The Rams refused to go away, though.

Roman finished up an and-1 chance with 7:11 left to play that brought the score down to 43-38. Cavaco would make the front end of a 1-and-1 soon after that got La Salle within one possession, 45-42, for the first time all half.

Hindle and Mazzulla came to the rescue at that point. The former gave Hendricken some breathing room with a bucket underneath. The Hawks worked a stop at the defensive end that allowed Mazzulla to take it himself and make it 49-42.

Cavaco battled for a lay-in to slash the lead down to five again, but Hindle delivered a dagger on the next possession. Mazzulla drew three defenders on his drive to the hoop, allowing Hindle to get wide open beyond the arc. He found nothing but net to give Hendricken the 52-44 lead with 3:58 to go.

“Chris Hindle’s 3-point shot was huge,” Gomes said.

Roman pumped in another 3-pointer with 36 seconds to go, getting La Salle to within 54-51. The Hawks bled the clock before Mueller attempted a turnaround jumper that bounced out to Gorriaran. He attempted an ill-fated, full-court pass as the clock tumbled down, but it went out of bounds with 4.5 seconds to go.

Mazzulla was fouled immediately, sending him to the charity stripe for a 1-and-1. He was 10-of-14 on the night at the line, but the last two damaged the Rams the most. The George Washington University commit sent Hendricken to a 6-2 record, while dropping his rival to 3-5.

“He’s the best player in the state,” Gomes said. “You’ve got to have the ball in his hands. We’ve got other guys that can make shots and can make free throws, too, but I think that’s what you want. In the end of the game, you want the ball in the hands of your best player.”

The Hawks have one more game, Friday’s contest at Mount Pleasant (5-2), before Pilgrim transfer T.J. Weeks can take the floor against North Kingstown on Wednesday night. His return will give Hendricken additional talent and depth as it looks to make a run during the second half.

“He’s going to give us another valid scoring threat, defensive threat, rebounding threat, ball-handler,” Gomes said. “I think the dynamic of our team has the potential of changing dramatically with him being eligible the game after next. He’s been getting after it every day in practice, so I think he’s going to be hungry.”

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