The Cranston West boys basketball team made a statement on Monday evening as it rolled to a 60-43 win over last year’s Division II runner up Middletown in its league opener at home.

The Islanders led 11-9 after one quarter, but the Falcons came charging back in the second quarter to take a 25-17 lead into the halftime break. West never looked back, as it continued to surge and dominate throughout the second half.

Leading the way was senior captain Jaymien Aponte who finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Kennedy Arias finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Adreyan Perez scored 13 points, including a trio of 3’s.

Aponte and Arias have quickly emerged as leaders up front for the Falcons and were tone setters in the team’s comeback.

“Jaymien and Kennedy are our leaders on defense and it’s something that we didn’t have last year. More physical, more rim protection and they did everything that we needed on the defensive end. Everything that we wanted to do from a scouting perspective, we did it. They played disciplined and smart,” said West coach James Sweeney.

“We always have energy on the floor. We’re emotional, loud, we’re always talking. We’re energetic and that’s how we have to be and we have that communication always,” added Aponte.

Despite a sluggish start in the first quarter, West never lost confidence and felt it had the advantage in the matchup.

“We just had to get going. We’ve had rough starts so we know how to pick it up. Even with our rough start we were only down two points, so we just had to keep going, keep communicating,” Arias said.

As the duo punished the Islanders up front, the West shooters also heated up and delivered some big shots, including Perez.

“I wouldn’t say shooting is a strength of ours at this point in the season, but we have a lot of guys that can make shots. We’re trying to get guys open and we’re trying to put a value on taking the best shot. They’re capable of doing it and right now it’s a night by night basis on who we’re going to. We hit our open shots tonight and against a team like Middletown, we had to,” said Sweeney.

Arias was more than willing to let the guards take control down the stretch.

“AP is a great shooter, a phenomenal shooter. That definitely takes the pressure off us. When I see him open, I just pass him the ball and start walking to the defensive side,” said Arias.

The Falcons are looking to find their identity this winter after graduating four senior starters from last year. Sweeney has put a lot on Aponte’s plate in the early going and the senior has been excited to take on the leadership duties.

“I’ve been feeling good. I just need to step up and be a leader for my team as captain. I just need to show out,” Aponte said.

Arias has also grabbed hold of one of the open spots.

“It’s an honor. We lost a lot of seniors but we knew we were going to have a good team that comes out to play,” said Arias. “They’re definitely going to be talking about Cranston West now.”