Pandemonium rocked the gymnasium when the final buzzer sounded and the Mt. Hope basketball team beat previously undefeated Ponaganset 57-53 in double overtime to claim first place in Division III during a home game on Friday night.  The Huskies dog pound and the entire wrestling team celebrated with the undefeated Huskies as they boosted their record to 10-0 with eight games remaining. The second place Chieftains fell to 9-1. 

“It feels great,” said Huskies senior captain Bruce McGuire. “10-0. We got a super strong team.” 

Senior forward Faceson Hicks sank three of four from the free throw line to ice the game in the second, four-minute overtime period. Hicks came up big and scored six of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. 

“I took my time and executed when it mattered most,” Hicks said. “We came together and did what we had to do.” 

But it was McGuire who got them there. The Huskies muscular forward scored a game high 24 points and was money down the stretch, scoring seven points in the fourth quarter and all six Huskies points in the first overtime period as the team had to fight back to even the score. 

“I have a lot of respect for Ponaganset,” McGuire said. “They played really tough. But we came together and had a great crowd come out for the game. It was a lot of fun. It was a good win.”

Chieftains start the game red hot

Ponaganset was red hot in the first quarter as they sprinted out to a 17-0 lead behind Chieftains senior guard Salvatore Bianca who scored eight of his 21 points with two three pointers. 

“It was deterring,” said Hicks. “They are an undefeated great team.”

“Out guys came out fired up to the point where we almost psyched ourselves out a little bit,” said Coach Grifka. “I had to get them to calm down. I worked in a couple of different guys on offense and defense and that settled the team down a bit.”

Mt. Hope finally got on the scoreboard when McGuire forced his way to the basket for a layup. He drew a foul and sank it for a three point play, to cut the lead to 17-3, with 2:21 left in the first quarter. 

“We really needed that bucket,” Coach Grifka said. “Once we scored that first bucket, they started falling for us.”

Coach Grifka made adjustments to the Mt. Hope defense and the Huskies clawed their way back into the game. Tom Nichols and Gavin Winn were the go to players off the bench for the Huskies coach. Senior forward Rick Julien took a pass from Hicks and sprinted down the court for a layup. He also drew a foul and sank it for a three point play to slice the lead to 17-6. The Huskies big men were instrumental in battling on the boards and scoring big points as their outside shooting remained frozen most of the game.

“Tonight wasn’t one of our best outside shooting nights,” said Coach Grifka. “We scored the majority of our points inside. Which we needed to do.”

“We started off rocky,” Hicks said. “We weren’t getting back on defense. We were getting beat in transition. Once we stepped it up defensively. It opened up lanes for us offensively,”said Hicks. 

Once the Huskies defense was firmed up, Mt. Hope began to score points through transition in the second quarter. McGuire scored six points in the second quarter, Julien scored five of his 14 points, Hicks and Tom Nichols each added a bucket as the Huskies out scored the Chieftains 15-5 in the quarter. A McGuire jumper cut the lead to 22-21 with 2 seconds left in the half.

Heavyweight fight ensued 

“At halftime I told them, ‘Look, I think we have the best second half yet to come out and play,’”said Coach Grifka. “I played a lot of the same guys all the way through the second half and I tell ya, they showed resiliency and grit. They are in shape and they worked hard.” 

The game resembled more of a heavyweight fight in the second half. Each team landing blow after blow. The dog pound and wrestlers lit up the packed gymnasium every time the Huskies scored. 

The Chieftains led until junior point guard Parker Camelo sank a running right-handed jumper to give the Huskies their first lead 25-24, with 5:25 left in the third quarter. 

The Chieftains took the lead right back on a three by Bianca and the fight was on. 

The bench and fans erupted when McGuire sank a jumper to give Mt. Hope their second lead of the game 42-41, with 2:05 left in fourth quarter. Another McGuire bucket increased the lead to 46-41 with just 36 seconds remaining. McGuire scored 9 points, Hicks scored 8, Julien netted 6 and Parker Camelo added a layup in the fourth quarter. 

But the wily Chieftains weren’t finished. A Michael Stewart jumper cut the lead to 46-44 and a Bianca one handed layup tied the game 46-46 to force overtime. 

McGuire ties the game in the first overtime

The Huskies fell behind in the first overtime. McGuire scored all six of Mt. Hope’s points to finally even the score near the end of the four minute period. 

Bianca netted a jumper to give the Chieftains the lead  52-50. 

McGuire drove to the basket, drew a foul and sank a pair of free throws to tie the game 52-52 with 1:43 left.  

The Huskies had a chance to win it with 7 seconds left when Gavin Winn and Camelo stripped the ball from Chieftains senior guard Ryan Krupa before he reached half court. Winn attempted to dribble and looked to have gained some control, but the ball skidded out of play under the Ponaganset basket as time expired. 

Hicks sinks three of four foul shots in second overtime

McGuire went to center court for the tip off to begin the second four minute over time period. Camelo who ran the Huskies offensive attack with guard Josh deWolf most of the game, forced his way to the basket between two Chieftain defenders and netted a nifty right-handed jumper off the backboard to give Mt. Hope a 54-52 lead. Bianca sank a foul shot to cut the lead to 54-53 with 1:28 to play. 

With time winding down, the game was going to come down to free throws again. 

“The one thing about free throws, I keep telling our boys,” said Coach Grifka, “They are going to win it for us or lose it for us. To be honest, when they fouled Faceson and put him on the line, he’s one of our best free throw shooters, I had all the confidence in him that he was going to knock them down.” 

“He iced it for us,” McGuire said. “He has made a lot of progress this season. I’m really proud of him.”

The Huskies athletic forward sank three of four foul shots down the stretch. The last two with seconds left to give Mt. Hope a commanding 57-53 lead. Coach Grifka gave the team the game ball after the game. 

“Everybody played hard. Everybody stepped up,” he said. “It was a team win tonight.”

And now the Huskies sit alone at the top of Division III.