The second-seeded Bishop Hendricken basketball team fell to La Salle 75-60 in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League State Championship on Sunday night at the Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island. La Salle finished the season with a perfect in-state record and defeated the Hawks for the third time this season in the process.

Despite leading 33-28 at halftime, the Hawks were unable to hold off the late La Salle rally, which saw the Rams outscore them by 13 points in the final quarter. The Rams got to the free throw line a whopping 22 times in the final two minutes and converted on 17 of them.

Hendricken was led by junior Deion Ellis Cipriano, who had a breakout performance with 17 points scored. Michael D’Ambra added 10 while Jakob Reyes scored nine.

The Hawks topped defending champion Classical 70-67 in an overtime thriller in the semifinals the previous night. D’Ambra led the way with 17 points.

Hendricken finished the season with a 22-8 overall record and was the runner up in both the state and division championships. The Hawks will be graduating James Caldarella, Jakob Reyes and Dylan Lynch, while returning guys like D’Ambra, Ellis-Cipriano and Will Cary to the mix next winter. 

Ellis-Cipriano was named the team’s Most Valuable Player in the state final for his team leading point total.