Townies lose to Hendricken Hawks in Elite 8 Action

Brown Universsity - The East Providence High boys basketball team lost to Hendricken High 74-55 today in an Elite 8 tournament game at Brown University. East Providence held their own early on but in the end was no match for Hendricken. The game started out as a game of three-point shots as both teams hit the threes with some regularity. The Hawks jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead and then the Townies Dion Hazard hit on a 2 point jump shot to make the score 8-6 for Hendricken.Early on East Providence was aggressive on the boards pulling down some key rebounds as both teams played cautiously at first. The Townies Deyshawn Tengbeh showed good ball control and with some crisp passing found Ep's Ben Sears who hit a deep three-point basket to overtake the Hawks and put East Providence on top at 12-11. However the Hawks regained the lead at 15-12 on a drive and basket by Angel Sanchez.The Townies continued to hit the boards and had fans thinking twice when Kyerstan Casey hit on a long three-pointer to tie the game at 15. But Hendricken roared back with Jalen Watson hitting on a three-pointer as the Hawks would not trail again. Ep made it a game for awhile as Tengbeh hit on a three-pointer to bring the Townies close but the Hawkd Watson was fouled on a driving layup by Ep's Tengbeh and the Hawks lead grew to 21-15.Ep called a timeout and tried to slow done the Hawk's momentum and Hazard hit on a three-pointer making the score 21-8 Hawks. The action went back and forth with Ep playing a tough defense early but having difficulty getting the ball inside the paint of Hendricken. Tengbeh scored on a layup after an Ep steal on defense and then Ben Sears hit on a three-pointer to bring Ep within 1 at 24-23.Ep wasn't dead yet as Casey blocked a Hawk shot and grabbed the ball feeding a pass to Tengbeh who was fouled. Tengbeh hit the free-throw and again the game was tied at 24. The Hawks went back on top 27-24 when once again Watson hit on a deep three-pointer. The Townies Ben Sears scored on a fall-away jump shot bringing Ep to within one but the Hawks Justin Mazzulla tapped in missed Hawk layup.Jalen Watson hit on another Hawk three-pointer and the score grew to a 34-26 Hawk lead.The Townies Tengbeh made a couple of key defensive plays but Ep missed a couple of shots and Ep had 7 team fouls. The game was becoming out of reach for the Townies and was accentuated by a Isaiah Mylers thundering dunk shot while being fouled by Tengbeh. Mylers made the free throw and all of a sudden the score was 44-27 for the Hawks.East Providence made some key rebounds and had a few good offensive runs at the hoop but the scoring hole was too big to climb out of. The Townies threw away some passes and missed a few key shots while Hendricken remained hot. Both teams started to substitute non-starters as the Hawk lead seemed was insurmountable. Townie bench player, junior center Connor Gordon, came into the game and hit on a long three-pointer to applause from the Ep crowd but the game ended with the 74-55 Hendricken lead.After the game East Providence Athletic Director, Gregg Amore applauded the Townies. "This was a great season. They made it to the Elite 8 and is good as we've had (in basketball) in a long time," said Amore. "Our guys won the Division championship and we had a first-year coach, Joe Andrade who did a great job. A big plus is that the team played classy all year, a tribute to our school. We're also very young and should be very good again," said A.D. Amore.