Tears flowed from the eyes of Mt. Hope seniors as they were getting big hugs from Principal Debbie Debiase after they played their last high school basketball game, a Tuesday night loss to Rogers in the first round of the Division III playoffs in Newport.

Rogers turned a 27-21 halftime lead into a blowout, as they shot lights out and scored 49 second-half points for a 70-52 win.

Jalen Kopecky scored 22 points for the Huskies in the loss. Jaden Seimbab netted 13 points, Bruce Mcguire scored 8, Xavier Costa scored 4 and Nathan Ouellette scored 4 for Mt. Hope.

“It was a tough loss,” said Mt. Hope head coach Jeffrey Grifka. “At the end of the day, they played better than us. My kids worked hard. We had a good game plan going in. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to.”

“We played big down low. That was our game plan. I’m so proud of all my boys. They showed up to play today. A few of the baskets didn’t fall. Hey, that’s basketball,” said coach Grifka.

The Huskies just couldn’t slow the Vikings’ onslaught of baskets, nor keep up. Rashawn Fleming scored 25 points, 15 in the second half for Rogers. Dorian Piker scored 15 points, 12 in the second half, and Michael Weaver scored 9 points, all in the second half for the Vikings.

“You got to be able to perform and play well even on away games,” said coach Grifka about the team going cold in the second half.

Coach Grifka cited some injuries to some of the starters for the tough performance. Although the team will be graduating eight players (4 starters) this year, he likes what he sees from the underclassmen.

“We are building,” said coach Grifka. “I like what’s coming up. We’ll see.”