PAWTUCKET — The Mt. Hope High School boys' basketball team will play for the 2025 Division III title after the Huskies pummeled Ponaganset, 78-56, in the semifinals of the league championship playoffs Thursday night, Feb. 27, at St. Raphael Academy's Alumni Hall.

Top-seeded Mt. Hope never trailed after Lucas Andreozzi drained a 3-pointer for the game's opening bucket, dominating the fourth-seeded Chieftains from tip to finish and at both ends of the floor.

The Huskies will face second-seeded Times2 Academy in the championship game Monday night, March 3, at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence. Tip time is 8 p.m.

The Eagles edged third-seeded Toll Gate, 66-63, in Thursday's other semi at St. Ray's, the neutral site chosen for the semis by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League.

Andreozzi and Jack Thompson accounted for the first 14 Mt. Hope points as the Huskies eventually built a 19-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Thompson was the standout among many for the locals in the contest, notching a night-best 25 points, 17 in the first half alone. Maleaq Roderick finished with 16 points. Andreozzi had 15. Ethan Santerre and Matt MacDougall had seven apiece.

"We had a good game plan. The kids executed very well," Mt. Hope head coach Jeff Grifka said. "They were able to work it into Jack and he played very well. Lucas was a great leader and court general. Matthew played a great defensive game on a good shooter (Ponaganset's Gabriel Mongeon). Maleaq was able to get inside and score as well."

Mt. Hope closed the first eight minutes on a 5-0 run, which continued into the second quarter as Ethan Santerre drained a triple to give the Huskies their first double-digit lead of the night (22-10) seconds into the period.

The Chieftains offered up a brief response, scoring six points in a row to trim their deficit to six (24-18) midway through the quarter, but Mt. Hope gradually reupped its edge to a half-best 17 (38-21) on Roderick's first hoop of the contest just before the break. A Ponaganset hoop made it 38-23 at intermission.

The Huskies initially built on their lead in the third, raising it to 22 (49-27) when Thompson converted an old-fashioned three-point play after he drove for a bucket, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw.

Ponaganset had another brief run with another 6-0 spurt to reduce the margin to 13 (49-36). The locals, though, again had a response. Roderick scored six of his eight points in the period to help the Huskies regain a comfortable 57-41 lead heading into the final frame.

Roderick's personal eight-point spree included the opening hoop of the fourth. MacDougall followed with a layup off a steal and Mt. Hope's lead reached 20 (61-41) again.

The Chieftains later closed to within 14 once more (68-54) before Andreozzi drained a triple, Roderick hit two free throws and Jackson Cicchinelli made a layup to salt away the game.

Thursday night's results set up a rematch of one of the more entertaining games of the season for both finalists.

Mt. Hope and Times2 played a double-overtime thriller back on January 21 in Bristol, the Huskies outlasting the Eagles, 81-78.

The locals trailed 31-23 at the half, but rallied to send the game into the initial five-minute extra session tied at 60 at the end of regulation, then level at 72 through the first OT.

Roderick, who was shelved with injury for about a week previous, made an impressive return to the Mt. Hope line-up by scoring a game-high 27 points, 24 in the second half and OT sessions. Thompson and Andreozzi were superb as well, dropping 25 and 19, respectively.

"T2 is tough. (Uniform numbers) 14, 23, 3 (Justin Urey, Yomy Garcia, Steven Garcia) are good players. (Uray and Yomy Garcia) can get downhill fast," Grifka said of the rematch with the Eagles. "We have to be able to stop their penetration and at the same time keep an eye out on perimeter to stop (Steven Garcia) as well. Our first game we were able to get them in foul trouble. We are both much different teams now compared to then. It’s going to be a battle."

The Huskies and Grifka, who returned to D-III this winter after spending a couple of difficult seasons up a level, will be seeking their third league title in in seven years.

Mt. Hope won the D-III championship in 2019 and 22. Times2 is seeking its second league title, having won its first in 2021.

The Huskies have won four boys' basketball championships since the Bristol-Warren merger. Mt. Hope claimed the D-II title in 2003 and another D-III crown in 1994.