Chaminade’s Ricky Gunther shoots against Bishop Hendricken in their game...

Chaminade’s Ricky Gunther shoots against Bishop Hendricken in their game at the Hoophall Invitational at Pope Francis Prep in Springfield, Mass., on Saturday. Credit: Cloe Poisson

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – No matter the style of game played, the Chaminade boys basketball team always seems to find a way.

The reigning CHSAA Class A state champion Flyers were led by Bishop Hendricken (Warwick, Rhode Island) throughout the first three quarters, but the energy began to shift toward the end of the third quarter of Chaminade’s 55-52 win.

Chaminade went on a 14-1 run, turning a 45-38 deficit with 2:27 left in the third into a 52-46 lead with 4:01 remaining in the game. It never trailed again.

Senior guard Ricky Gunther scored 22 points and junior guard Kyle Dillon added 13 to lead the Flyers to their comeback win Saturday evening in the Hoophall Invitational at Pope Francis Preparatory School. It was the Flyers’ seventh win in their last eight tries.

“We just came off a loss against St. Dom’s, so it was big for us,” Gunther said. “We had to come out strong, and we started off slow again so I thought we were like, ‘Here we go again.’ But we really picked it up and we showed we had fight, and I think that’s big for us.”

Said Dillon, “I think we’re a gritty group of guys. We don’t get alarmed when we’re down . . . We kept getting closer and closer, but we never got it until the end. We just don’t quit.”

Senior guard James Prendergast had nine points off the bench and junior forward Peter Tagios III had six. Fellow reserves Joseph Leyden, a senior forward, and Ian Laurencin, a junior guard, each scored near the end of the third quarter to spark the run.

Chaminade (9-4) only allowed seven fourth-quarter points, including a three at the buzzer with the game out of reach.

What was so impressive about how it closed the game?

“Just their fight,” coach Dan Feeney said. “I always say as someone that didn’t go to Chaminade, that’s what I hate about Chaminade. They play hard and that’s gone on for a long time. They just play to the end of the game. They claw, they scrap, they find a way.

“[Assistant coach Kevin] Spann is a St. John the Baptist guy.  I went to Holy Trinity. And we always say for us, 'that’s what we didn’t like, and that’s what we love about coaching these guys.' They compete their tails off right to the end of the game and they showed that today.”

Bishop Hendricken (5-4) never led by more than eight points but kept Chaminade at bay until the fourth quarter. James Caldarella scored 12 points and Dylan Lynch and Will Cary each had 10 for the Hawks.

Gunther scored four points in each of the first, third and fourth quarters for Chaminade. He rattled off 10 second-quarter points, and the Flyers were down 29-26 at halftime.

“Coach wants me to attack early, and I think his faith in me helps me with that,” Gunther said. “I think I help us when I score. And then once they start shutting me out, I can kick out and that helps as well.”

On the prowl for a third straight NSCHSAA crown and second consecutive state title, Chaminade has tested itself in its non-league schedule. The Flyers scheduled local power Long Island Lutheran, reigning state Class AA public school champion Elmont and last year’s Nassau Class AAA finalist Port Washington among other notable non-local foes.

They will meet New London High School (Connecticut) on Sunday before returning home.

“It helps us tremendously, but I also think that’s why kids come to Chaminade,” Feeney said. “ . . . We’ll play anybody that will play us. We schedule to gain experience as the year goes along, and we’re starting to do that a little bit."

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