WARWICK — For the third and most important time to date during this 2019-2020 season, the East Providence High School boys’ basketball team suffered a defeat to perennial power Bishop Hendricken, the latest Friday night, March 6, by a 72-60 count in the semifinal round of the Division I championship tournament held at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Cullen Gymnasium.

E.P. (15-6 in league games) and the Hawks previously met twice during the regular season. Hendricken won both contests: a relatively tight 81-75 decision in East Providence on January 2 and a rather one-sided 85-64 outing at home in Warwick on January 22.

Last Friday night in the playoffs, the fifth-seeded Townies stayed with the top-seeded Hawks (19-1) for the better part of the first half. The Townies eventually found themselves down, 26-20, with just over four minutes to go before the break.

But Hendricken next used a 10-0 spree to go up by a half-best 36-20. The Hawks eventually closed the period on a 12-5 spurt total to build a 38-25 lead by intermission.

Hendricken's leading scorer Sebastian Thomas spurred the run, finishing the first with 12 of his game-best 29 points. Justin Pena led East Providence with 17 points. Brian Taylor added 15 and R.J. Pina 14.

“Hendricken moves the basketball to get a good shot. They will sacrifice their body and they box out, get second-chance points,” EPHS head coach Joe Andrade said of the semifinal contest.

Hendricken continued to stretch its edge at the start of the second half. The Hawks’ advantage climbed to as many as 19 (52-33) five minutes in.

In both of their first two postseason games, the Townies also trailed by a game-high of 19 points, then in each instance rallied to defeat Central, in the opening round, and LaSalle, in the quarterfinals.

A third time, much like in terms of the number of meetings with Hendricken so far this winter, wasn’t the charm, however, for EPHS.

The Townies did muster a response over the last several minutes of the game, cutting their deficit to 11 late though it wasn’t nearly enough. The Hawks basically maintained their mid-teens edge for most of the rest of the way before settling for the 12-point victory in the end.

“Overall, I told the kids they've energized the city. People come out for the kids they like, and these kids are likeable,” Andrade added. “We need to refocus, get some rest because we still got business to take care of in the Open Tournament.”

Hendricken advanced to the division championship game Sunday, March 8. The Townies awaited the completion of all three division tournaments before they know their exact seed in the upcoming Open State Championship Tournament, which starts with preliminary round games Tuesday, March 10, followed by the Round of 16 Thursday night, March 12.

E.P. closed its run in the D-I playoffs as the fifth seed in the Open Tourney rankings, but could slip a spot or two depending on the outcome of other division tourney contests. Regardless of the rest of the division results, the Townies are assured of starting the state championship event in the Round of 16 on March 12.

View more photos of the game by East Providence Post and eastbayri.com contributing photographer Tyler Maxwell  here...