Classical guards David Duke and Rodney Theodore were good in the first half, but in the second half they became unstoppable.

Duke and Theodore combined for 41 points after the break, six more than Hendricken scored as a team, as the Purple beat the Hawks, 82-71. Theodore was on fire from 3-point territory, nailing five in the second half and eight overall. Duke, after having just four points before the intermission, had 22 in the final 16 minutes.

“Second half is usually always a better half for me,” Duke said. “So I knew that was going to happen. I just, I didn’t want to go out without scoring double digits. That would be my lowest-scoring game of the season, so I just had to do what I had to do.”

When all was said and done, Duke and Theodore were responsible for 56 of Classical’s 82 points.

“It means a lot,” Theodore said of the title. “Everybody counted us out, everybody called us the underdogs. Even when we beat La Salle, they said it was an upset. Now we came in, and this is what we were supposed to do.”

The Hawks took a 36-28 lead into the break behind 12 points from junior guard Justin Mazzulla and eight from sophomore guard Preston Santos. The Purple had difficulty handling Santos when he entered the game off the bench, at one point allowing the Hawks to go off on a 13-0 run.

After the break, though, center Jamari Johnson handled the inside game for Classical while Duke and Theodore made nearly every jumper they attempted. Johnson got the Purple rolling early with a thunderous dunk to cut the deficit down to 38-34, before Duke poured in five straight to tie the game up at 39.

“They’re tremendous athletes,” Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes said of why Duke and Theodore are difficult to guard. “Speed, athleticism and they made shots. Theodore made shots, I mean, eight 3’s on the day. Then Duke was able to drive it in there. Their pick-and-roll offense had us on our heels, and then Jamari cleaned up the mess after that. They had an exceptional night.”

Theodore’s first long-distance shot of the half put Classical ahead 42-39, and Duke’s athletic make built the lead out to five. Theodore again locked in from 3-point land to make it 47-41, and his and Duke’s shooting kept the Hawks at an arm’s length for the rest of the game.

Despite his hot start to the half, Duke did most of his damage at the charity stripe. The junior went 11-for-12 in the second half, sinking his first 10 in a row to slowly balloon the lead. The two sides combined for 41 free throw attempts in the second half.

Duke helped foster the lead, but Theodore helped the Purple pull away. With 5:42 to go, he drilled a shot from beyond the arc to put Classical up nine. Then, after Mazzulla made one free throw down the other end, Theodore buried a shot from several feet behind the line as the shot clock expired to send the Classical faithful into a frenzy.

“The crowd’s everything,” Theodore said. “They come to every game and they support us. No. 1 fans.”

Kyle Henseler got a shot to go to cut the lead down to single digits, but again Theodore locked in from well beyond NBA distance to make it a 12-point game in the late stages.

“My shots were open, so I took them,” Theodore said with a smile. “I did whatever [I had] to do to win.”

The Hawks made a run in the final minutes, but it wasn’t enough. Trailing 75-63, Santos converted on a pair of free throws to make it a 10-point game. Forward Trevor Lawton then hit two from the stripe, and Santos got a layup to go after an empty Classical possession to make it 75-69.

The Hawks got the ball back with a minute to go down six, but sharpshooting guard Dimitri Rosa opted not to pull up for a 3-pointer and ended up dribbling the ball off himself and out of bounds.

Duke’s nearly flawless free throw shooting sealed the deal, as he made five of his final six from the line to get the lead out to 82-71 with just a few seconds left.

However, the two sides may meet again in the open state tournament. Hendricken earned the No. 2 seed while Classical will be No. 3. As of press time, the Hawks are slated to play No. 15 Johnston in the first round, while Classical will play No. 14 Shea.

“I think it’s always defense and it’s always rebounding,” Gomes said of what the Hawks will work on heading into the open tournament. “Offensively, we scored enough points, 71 points, that’s enough. Defensively, I think we’ve got to be zeroed in. We’ve got to be zeroed in a little bit more, but we threw everything and the kitchen sink at [Classical], and they were still making shots.”