SPORTS

Falcons rebound, top Toll Gate

By RYAN D. MURRAY
Posted 1/17/23

The Falcons crushed the Toll Gate Titans 68-44 during a Boys Division II Basketball showdown at Cranston High School West on Sunday afternoon. It marked the Falcons first home win of the …

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SPORTS

Falcons rebound, top Toll Gate

Posted

The Falcons crushed the Toll Gate Titans 68-44 during a Boys Division II Basketball showdown at Cranston High School West on Sunday afternoon. It marked the Falcons first home win of the season.

“We had a great week of practice, great week of preparation,” West head coach James Sweeney said. “And what’s going on behind the scenes that everybody can’t see, is the time, effort, and commitment that the kids are putting into it. We’ve lost a few in a row. We’ve struggled the last couple of weeks, but the kids are here every single day. The energy is great. The work ethic is great. And they’ve totally bought into each other and are playing together. . . We might not be showing the results right now, but hopefully today can jumpstart us moving forward.”

Marcus Chung, a senior guard, led the Falcons with 13 points.

“I thought Marcus played fantastic today,” Sweeney said. “Leading us defensively, pushing the pace. Guys are running the floor, sprinting. All 94 feet. I was really proud of how they played together.”

Nick Masse, also a senior guard, finished second in scoring for West with 12 points.

“Nick Masse is everything you want in a player,” Sweeney said. “He’s one of our captains. He works his tail off day in and day out. He’s been showing some frustrations of late because he hasn’t been playing to his standard, but he’s going to have a great rest of the season. And he showed it today. Because he’s the kid that’s the first one in the gym and the last one out and he really is the face of our program when it comes to character and everything that he brings us. So, I’m very proud of the kid. I’m glad to see he had some great moments today and I hope he keeps it going because he’s a big part of our team.”

Adreyann Perez, a junior guard, added nine points for the Falcons, while Anthony Veltri, a senior guard, scored eight points.

Jackson Cehelsky, a senior guard, and Liam Leahy, a sophomore guard, topped the Titans with 13 points each.

West jumped out to an early 8-0 advantage after Chung and Veltri buried back-to-back 3-pointers and Lucian Spremullo sank a breakaway layup.

The Titans first point of the game came when Cehelsky hit a free throw, which inched Toll Gate within 8-1.

Masse extended the West buffer to 10-1 when he scored with a put back bank-shot.

The Falcons upped their margin to 17-3 when Veltri assisted to Chung for an old-fashioned 3-point play, and then Perez stole the ball and hit a breakaway layup.

Soon after, Jaymien Aponte, a junior, made a free throw before Kennedy Arias scored a fast-break basket, which extended the West cushion to 20-5.

Midway through the second quarter, Masse hit three free throws and pushed the Falcons lead up to 27-9.

With 3:21 remaining in the first half, Toll Gate got the deficit down to 27-14, after three free throws from Leahy, and a put back by Victor.

Nevertheless, the Falcons closed the second quarter with a 10-2 run and led 37-16 at halftime.

That spurt saw Chung score six points and Aponte and Spremullo score a layup each.

West started the third frame on a 7-0 run where Masse made a layup, Spremullo sank three free throws, and Veltri scored a breakaway layup, which gave the Falcons a 44-16 edge.

Leahy halted the Falcons spurt when he scored a layup and pulled the Titans within 44-18.

But Masse answered with a breakaway layup, and then Chung netted a bucket, and that ballooned the Falcons buffer to 48-18.

Toll Gate sophomore forward/center Stephen Amargo responded with a corner trey and then a put back, and that pulled the Titans within 48-23.

With under two minutes remaining in the contest, the Titans drew within 66-44 when Cehelsky made a layup, and then Leahy a jump shot.

Perez concluded the game with a breakaway layup during the final seconds, and that helped the Falcons earn the 68-44 victory.

“It was a fantastic team win, and our whole identity this year is about being together,” Sweeney said. “Win together, lose together. Making sure that they treat each other like family and they’ve done a great job of that.”

West improved its league record to 3-5 with the victory and 4-7 overall.

The Falcons played again on Tuesday, when they hosted Hope, but that score was unavailable at press time. West plays next at Tiverton on Thursday night.

West, basketball

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