Hawks Sweep the Double Broadcast: Basketball Downs the Kilties, Hockey Over LaSalle

As we've pointed out several times here at The Network, if we're all about one thing, it is quite simply busting through the barriers of the New Media like it's nobody's business.

While we've done that on a fairly regular basis during the roguhly three years of our existence, one of the things that we've tried to do - and have, to a certain extent managed to do, but by our own admission, not perfectly - is to present a clean double broadcast in both viewers on the site's homepage for all the fans in Hawk Nation.

At long last, we can finally say Mission Accomplished.

As stated, we've been moderately successful in the several times we've made the double attempt; in each case, however, wi-fi and/or camera issues prevented solid, simultaneous broadcasts. Last night, though, we were able to present pretty close to as clean a double broadcast as possible, as we carried live the basketball team's win over Mount Pleasant, 55-49, and hockey's 5-0 win over previously undefreated and archrival LaSalle, bvaulting them into first place in the Cimini Division.

Cam Brennan, Johnathan Feeny, Darren Squillace, and DT Barron took care of the basketball broadcast at Pepin, while over at Thayer Arena, Stone Freeman, Remy Morris, Ben Macksound, and Desmond Bernal handled the hockey responsibilities.

Including last night's win over Mount Pleasant, it's been a seven-game stretch since we last covered the basketball team here in our sports articles section of the site, dating all the way back to the Hawks' statement win over LaSalle in a packed Pepin Gym, 64-50. In that span, our guys have gone 5-2, the losses coming to a very strong Malden Catholic team at Boston Garden, 62-35, and on the road to Hope (a team that will no doubt be right in the thick of the run at the state championship in about six weeks' time), 59-46. During that time the Hawks rang up wins over West Warwick, Coventry, Central, and Classical.

The Providence Journal's slideshow from the Coventry game can be seen HERE.

While there's no doubt that all of our guys have made significant contributons - offense, defense, rebounding - the most consistent scoring has come from Justin Mazzulla, Dmitri Rosa, and Ira Lough, as all three have generally been around at least 12 points or more per game.

Last night's win over Mount Pleasant was a quality one, as the Kilties are a tough, talented team that entered Pepin Gym with a 4-1 mark in league play and kept the game close throughout the first half. It wasn't until the second half of the game truly began to unfold that the Hawks truly began to separate themselves. Once again it was the steady work of Justin Mazzulla....

....and Ira Lough....

...that helped the Hawks take control of the game.

Earlier this season - in fact, on the very same day that the football Hawks downed LaSalle in the Super Bowl for the third time in their five-year run - the hockey Hawks were handled rather easily by LaSalle at Thayer Arena, 4-1. And, turth be told, if you were to ask anyone who was in the stands that night, they'd tell you that the game wasn't even ever really that close. The Rams dominated the game from the drop of the first puck.

Since that time, the Rams had gone without a loss in Cimini Division play, moving with relative ease into first place. Our guys have seemingly been getting better over the course of the season, having suffered only that loss in league play en route to an overall record of 10-3. When the archrivals finally met again last night, it was the Hawks who took their game to the Rams, scoring three times in the first period en route to a dominating 5-0 win, a win that now moves our guys into first place in the state's top division. Creamer, Waterman, King, and Hopgood each accounted for two points, Hopgood alone netting two goals. Ryan King's goal in the third period can be seen right here:

The Providence Journal's slideshow from last night's game can be seen right HERE.

So, the basketball and hockey teams seem on track for strong showin gs in the state playoffs come March, and The Network continues to up its game. Stay right here for all sorts of coverage of Hawks sports as the winter season really starts to hit its stride.