The Mt. Hope High School basketball teams entered their respective 2025 league championship tournaments this week from distinctly different angles, the boys as the No. 1 seed and favorite to win the Division III playoffs while the girls began their D-II postseason event as the No. 7 seed and among the pursuing pack for the title.

As the top team in the league, the Huskies awaited the winner of the eight-nine game between North Smithfield and Exeter-West Greenwich on the boys' side. Mt. Hope will welcome the victor to Bristol Friday night, Feb. 21, for a 6 p.m. tip in the quarterfinals.

In the girls' playoffs, the Huskies hosted 10th-seeded Johnston in a preliminary round game on Februart 18. The winner moves into the main draw to face second-seeded Tiverton on the road in the quarters also likely on February 21.

More boys' notes
Mt. Hope completed its regular season last week with a pair of games, finishing with a 15-5 overall record and 10-2 in D-III outings.

The locals ended their slate Wednesday night, Feb. 12, in East Providence with a 61-31 win over host Providence Country Day. The Huskies only led by seven (29-22) at the end of the first half, then blew the game open by putting the clamps down on the Knights over the final 16 minutes. They outscored PCD 16-7 in the third quarter then allowed their hosts just a single bucket in the fourth.

Maleaq Roderick's return to top form has ignited this last fine stretch of play for Mt. Hope, including a game-high 15-point performance against the Knights. Jack Thompson continued his superb play of late as well with 12. Ethan Santerre, who has surged in recent weeks, had 10. Lucas Andreozzi added eight and Matt MacDougall six.

The Huskies started the week by edging host Scituate, 58-54, in a D-III outing Monday night, Feb. 10. Roderick notched a game-best 23 in the Huskies road win over the Spartans. Thompson, who's also been terrific of late, added 18 points. Andreozzi had eight.

Mt. Hope wound up atop the new league playoff power ranking system with a rating 2.83 points. Times2 Academy was second at 2.531 just ahead of Toll Gate in third at 2.512. Ponaganset was fourth with 2.446. Prout was fifth with 2.286.

Two of those wins for the locals came against their first playoff opponent. They beat North Smithfield at home (54-42) and EWG (60-42) on the road.

"They're both good teams. We had to go to Exeter-West Greenwich to play against them on their court. And North Smithfield has a kid (Connor Reilly) who's pretty good," said Mt. Hope head coach Jeff Grifka.

Though Mt. Hope earned the No. 1 seed in Division III the Huskies, and any other team in their grouping for that matter, are unlikely to earn a berth into the Open State Championship later next month without winning the league tourney.

The locals currently sit well outside of the 16 spots into states according to the power rankings. However, if they win the D-III title they will receive an automatic bid as will the winners of both D-I and D-II.

"If we win, we're in," Grifka said of states. "There's no way as far as getting in because of the (power ranking) points."

He continued, "We're prepared for whatever. My kids are a really up for the fight. They're excited. They're happy to be in there with the opportunity in front of us. I told my kids you've got to win (D-III) to get in, so that's the ultimate goal, to get into the state tournament to try to rip through some of those D-II and D-I teams."

More girls' notes
If the Huskies were fortunate enough to advance into the girls' D-II bracket, they would face a Tiverton side against which they just played and lost, 51-44, on the road the final night of the regular season Friday, Feb. 14.

After trailing 10-5 to end the first quarter, the locals mounted a comeback to eventually lead 19-16 at intermission. Mt. Hope then scored the first five points of the third to build a 24-16 edge before the Tigers began to rally.

Tiverton, though, wouldn't regain the lead (41-39) until hitting a pair of 3-pointers mid-way through the fourth. The hosts then gradually extended their ad before settling for the seven-point win.

Lilly DaSilveira led the locals with 18 points. Emily Moran, in foul trouble in the first half before fouling out in the fourth quarter, had nine. Hailey Ferriera and Catherine Frawley added five each.

The Huskies were coming off a win also on the road over host Cumberland earlier in the week, 46-35.

A 13-6 second quarter margin set the locals on their way to the victory. Moran led all scorers with 18. DaSilveira had 16. Frawley and Ferreira chipped in six apiece.

The Huskies wound up with an 10-10 overall record and 10-9 in D-II. Among their victories was a 41-36 road decision over their first playoff foe Johnston.

"The first time we played Johnston it was a tight game, but we didn’t have our full squad that game," said Mt. Hope head coach Katie Kline. "They’re aggressive defensively, so we just need to take care of the ball on offense. It should be a good game."

As for a possible rematch with Tiverton (16-6 overall, 15-2 in D-II), Kline added, "It will be a battle like it was the last game of the season. We need to stay out of foul trouble and take care of their shooters defensively."

Narragansett is the No. 1 seed in the girls' D-II playoffs. East Providence is third, Scituate fourth and Rogers fifth. The latter two teams meet in the quarterfinals, the winner to meet the Tiverton-Mt. Hope victor in the semis next week.