Hawks claim title rematch
SRA hangs tough before Hawks survive
WARWICK – With Huascar Beato and Avion Bloe in a steady groove from downtown, the St. Raphael boys basketball team had two-time defending state champion Bishop Hendricken on the run at Pepin Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
Alas, there were stretches when the shots weren’t falling for the Saints and the Hawks took full advantage. The home team closed the game on a 22-8 run that resulted in a 64-51 triumph
that improved Hendricken’s Division I record to 6-0.
Now 2-5 in league play, the Saints got a big night from the senior Beato, who led all scorers with 24 points on six three-pointers – some of the very, very deep variety – and 10 rebounds.
“He rose to the challenge against the number one team,” said SRA head coach Tom “Saar” Sorrentine. “He was hot.”
Bloe scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half and hit three of St. Raphael’s 10 threes. Tyrone Weeks paced Hendricken with 19 points while Jalen Watson and Bobby Fiorito had their moments in the second half en route to producing 15 and 11 points, respectively.
In the first half, the Saints enjoyed a 16-13 lead with 9:44 left. They endured a 2-12 shooting funk that carried the squad into halftime and resulted in a 32-23 deficit. Weeks had it going for the Hawks with 13 points.
The second half saw SRA make a strong push after a follow by Weeks put Hendricken up 37-27 with 13:19 left. Three straight turnovers by the Hawks helped fuel a 13-0 Saints run that saw Beato and Bloe combine for all the points.
Four straight points by Watson put the Hawks up 41-40, but with the shot clock winding down, Beato connected from deep to give the Saints a 43-31 with nine minutes left.
Defensively, the Saints made it a point to double team Weeks, but there was still Fioreto and Watson to contend with. After Beato’s sixth and final triple of the contest, Fioreto scored on back-to-back possessions, the second hoop part of a three-point play that made it 46-43 in favor of the Hawks with 7:50 remaining.
“We let those guys get free,” said Sorrentine, who watched as starting guard Zaheer Santiago was forced to leave with an ankle injury with 13 minutes to go.
Bloe ended a 10-0 surge by Hendricken with a follow that brought SRA to within six (5145) with six minutes left. That’s as close as the visitors came the rest of the way as Hendricken went back up by double digits with 3:41 left.
SRA managed just two field goals over the final nine minutes.
“We executed for three-quarters of the game,” said Sorrentine. “Then we got out of sync.”
SRA will look to bounce back at home on Friday night against North Kingstown, one of the state’s top squads.
Follow Brendan McGair on Twitter @BWMcGair03