Hendricken sophomore point guard Bobby Fiorito didn’t stuff the stat sheet on Sunday afternoon, but the Hawks wouldn’t have been there without him.

Fiorito had eight points and four rebounds against St. Ray’s as Hendricken snatched the Division I title with a 63-54 win at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Cullen Fieldhouse. However, his biggest shot was about 48 hours prior.

With the Hawks trailing 66-64 to Mount Pleasant in the semifinals, Fiorito took a pass from Isaiah Mylers after a missed free throw with four seconds to go. He dribbled past the timeline and pulled up just before the arc as the buzzer expired. His shot hit nothing but net and sent Hendricken to the finals.

It was a shot that Fiorito may not have hit earlier in the season.

“It’s just maturity,” Hendricken head coach Jamal Gomes said was the biggest difference between Fiorito at the start of the season and now. “He’s figuring out that he has to play hard and he has to play smart every second that he’s out there because he can’t take anything for granted. He knows if you're not going to give your best, [it’s] next man up.”

Fiorito experienced that already this season. After Hendricken’s last defeat of the season to date, a 71-46 thrashing in Pawtucket at the hands of St. Ray’s on Jan. 13, Fiorito didn’t start the next game. He came off the bench against La Salle as the lineup shifted with the addition of freshman Angel Sanchez.

The message got through.

He is currently Hendricken’s fourth-leading scorer (7.3 PPG) after receiving little playing time last year as then-senior Kyle Henseler handled duties at the point.

“I feel like I became a better player because of all the obstacles,” Fiorito said. “I wasn’t starting for a little because I wasn’t playing great on the defensive end, but I learned from my mistakes, and I’m a better player now.”

Fiorito’s defensive improvement was on display Sunday, as he was tasked with guarding senior Peter Wilson. Wilson’s 20.7 points per game put him at No. 10 in the state and he blitzed the Hawks back in January to the tune of 25 points.

This time around, Fiorito turned him into a relative non-factor. Wilson had nine points, with just two coming in the first half, as the Saints didn’t come close to eclipsing the 70-point barrier.

“That shot he hit in the semifinals was tremendous, but I told him, ‘All right, Bobby, that’s over, play defense against St. Ray’s,’” Gomes quipped. “His maturity, though, has been tremendous, his growth over the season. He’s a very talented player.”

Fiorito and the Hawks know the journey is far from over, as they will open the state tournament as the top seed against South Kingstown later this week.

It will be business as usual for the sophomore, though, as he continues to keep a stranglehold on his starting job at the point.

“Same thing we did as [Saturday], go over our game plan and just contain their best player and not forget about those non-scorers,” Fiorito said of preparation for states. “Just play our game.”