WARWICK — The Final Four of the 2020 Division I boys’ basketball championship tournament is set with fourth-seeded East Providence High School opening the semifinals Friday night, March 6, at CCRI-Warwick against top-seeded Bishop Hendricken at 5:30 p.m. followed by second-seeded and reigning league champ North Kingstown facing third-seeded Mt. Pleasant in the nightcap.

The local Townies reached the semis with two come-from-behind wins against Central and, in overtime, LaSalle. Hendricken, like N.K. and Mt. Pleasant, had a first round bye then the Hawks (18-1 in league games) easily handled ninth-seeded Coventry, 64-37, in the quarterfinals.

The Townies (15-5) and Hawks 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.

EPHS head coach Joe Andrade said three key elements would determine if the Townies could upset the Hawks: dealing with the Hendricken press, scoring the ball and cleaning up the backboards.

“It’s a big game,” Andrade said. “We need to handle their 1-2-2 press. We need to execute offensively. And defensively we need to rebound.”

Another important factor is keeping the bulk of the Hawks in check, while accepting that Hendricken’s leading scorer and likely best player, Sebastian Thomas, will probably score at or around his impressive season average of 23.2 points per game.

“We can't let the other guys have ‘career nights,’” Andrade added. “Thomas will get his, but can’t allow role players to score 15-plus points each.”

As for the other semi, N.K. (18-1) and Mt. Pleasant (15-4) played once during the regular season, a last-second 48-47 win by the reigning champion Skippers. The Kilties had the lead in the waning moments, but a steal and lay-up by N.K. sealed the victory.

Friday’s winners advance to the D-I title game also set for CCRI-Warwick Sunday afternoon, March 8, at 4:30 p.m. The Townies lost to N.K. in city, 69-64, on January 30. EPHS beat visiting Mt. Pleasant, 80-78, on R.J. Pina’s basket with 10 seconds left in the February 18 contest.