The Cranston West boys basketball team finished the regular season strong, winning seven of its final eight games and taking a three-game win streak into this week’s opening round of the Division II postseason.

The Falcons celebrated senior night last week with a 50-44 win over Tiverton. Ryan Zarrella led the way for West with 14 points scored while Noah GermainA added 12 and Jaymien Aponte nine.

West was shorthanded in the win with starting forward Kennedy Arias out as he was battling illness. Taking most of his minutes was Germain, who made the most of his opportunity and slammed the door shut with eight points in the fourth quarter.

“Noah Germain is going to be a name to remember. He came in as a sophomore and gave us everything we needed. He gave us rebounds and was someone who came in, banged and scored. He was phenomenal,” said West coach James Sweeney.

After an up and down regular season, one which included a five-game losing streak, Zarrella and company were excited to right the ship in time for the postseason.

“It’s the momentum. We have a lot of love for each other and each win matters going into the state tournament. As a team, we have figured it out, staying together and toughness is what it’s about,” said Zarrella. “We just need to be together and hard work at practice every day. We did that and now we have a home game on Thursday.”

Sweeney added: “The kids have continued to trust the process every single day despite the ups and downs. It’s been a challenging season in many ways but it’s been a rewarding season as well. I’m just so proud of my seniors and I know there’s more to come for this group. They’ve battled all season and I expect nothing different come playoffs.”

West wrapped up the eighth seed in DII and will host No. 9 Coventry on Thursday night. The Falcons took home a 62-53 win over the Oakers in their regular season meeting, but expect a tough test to tip off the postseason.

“It’s just about trusting our teammates. It’s going to be a tough battle but we just need to play hard and finish. If we stay together, we can get the job done,” said Zarrella.

“We won, but in my opinion, at this point it doesn’t matter. That just gives them some extra fuel against us,” said Sweeney. “Our goal this year was to host a playoff game and now it is to win as many playoff games as possible. They had to get over losing in Burrillville (in last year’s opening round), so I’m hoping we can keep our emotions in check. They’ll be ready to go, I trust my guys against anyone.”