In the words of Mt. Hope High School boys' hoops head coach Jeff Grifka "it wasn't meant to be," but the Huskies' 69-33 loss on the road in Providence to top-seeded and Division I winner La Salle Academy in the opening round of the 2025 Open State Basketball Tournament Friday night, March 7, did nothing to diminish the wonderful winter the locals enjoyed.

The D-III champ Huskies were held to just seven first-quarter points by the unbeaten and top-seeded Rams to trail by 11 at the end of the opening period. La Salle eventually built a 29-16 lead at intermission, then broke the contest open in the third quarter to take an overwhelming 48-26 advantage into the final frame.

Senior Lucas Andreozzi led the locals in his last high school game with 14 points. Jack Thompson had seven, Maleaq Roderick four, Matt MacDougall and Brian Abbruzzi three each and Ethan Santerre two.

Asked if the Rams, which went 21-0 en route to the D-I title, were as good as billed, Grifka said, "Yes, they are. They're big and they're deep."

For the 16th-seeded Huskies, who four nights earlier claimed their league title with a scintillating 73-72 victory over Times2 Academy at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, their season came to a close with an 18-7 overall record.

Mt. Hope earned the No. 1 seed in the D-III tourney after compiling a 10-1 record in league games and 14-4 combined in contests that counted towards the Huskies' earning the top points total according to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League's new power ranking formula.

The league championship was the fifth in program history since the Bristol-Warren school district merger took effect in 1993. It was third title for the Huskies in the last seven years, each coming under the guidance of Grifka.

Tradition continues
The 2024-25 edition of the Huskies continued the tradition of success in the program, which is deeply engrained in Grifka, who was a player on Mt. Hope' initial title team during the first year of the aforementioned merger in 1993-94 and has now won three trophies as its head coach.

Grifka played for the legendary late Domenic "Zip" Raiola, who coached that '93-94 club and later won a Division II title in 2003 among his numerous accomplishments during his hall-of-fame career.

"I know 'Zip' Raiola is looking down and saying, 'Hey, you know what, keep it going,'" Grifka said of being the latest Mt. Hope coach to carry the mantle from Raiola, who passed away in 2018. "I played for him for three years and he did such a great job with this program and we just keep on pushing."

Fan support
Grifka made special mention of the approximately 1,000 fans who followed the Huskies to the "AMP" for the league championship game, noting they boosted the team in the close contest.

"We had such a great crowd there. I was so happy with the support of both towns. We had probably 1,000 people there and when you think about it that's awesome," Grifka said. "I have messages from family and friends and other coaches and they were just very supportive. And it's great to see that because people don't realize how much sports brings communities together, especially this time of year."

JV notes
The Mt. Hope junior varsity team gave a glimpse into the future for the Huskies, and it remains pretty bright after the squad won its league title while finishing with a gaudy 15-2 record of its own.

Mt. Hope claimed the D-III JV championship last month with a 71-67 victory over Toll Gate in overtime.

Grifka referenced freshman Jacob Tamke's clutch free throw shooting for the locals against the Titans in the understudy title game as a reason why he put the youngster in a similar position for the varsity in its league championship victory over Times2. Tamke's two foul shots proved the deciding tallies in the one-point win.

Members and coaches of the Mt. Hope JV team, which also beat Prout, 58-44, in the tournament semifinals included: Bam Adams, Dominic Baldinelli, Ian McGuire, Jackson Cicchinelli, Noah Sweeney, Carson Jerome, Jacob Tamke, Noah DaPonte, Noah Hallam, Hayden Harper, Ben Peters, Brandon Vales, Rhys Davies, Reese Destro, Tristan Sylvia, Jason Ouellette, head coach Tim Thorpe and assistant Matt Caradimos.

"I'm very happy for those kids. It obviously shows there's talent there, that there's promise in that group for next year (on varsity)," Grifka said. "And Timmy does a great job. He gets everyone playing time, which can be difficult when you have a talented bunch of kids."