By ALEX SPONSELLER The Cranston West boys basketball team fell to visiting Wheeler 74-61 last week.

The Falcons were shorthanded heading into the matchup, missing six players due to COVID including three starters. West was able to pull within three points deep into the third quarter, but Wheeler would surge in the final frame to run away with the victory.

Isaiah Smith-Johnson led Wheeler with 25 points scored, but big man Jake Faulise would steal the show in the second half on both ends of the floor to give the Falcons fits.

“In the beginning we did what we wanted to do (against Faulise) but we just didn’t shoot the ball well. When you’re chasing by eight, 10 points, and you have to guard him, you get a little gassed. It was tough for them. Those are things that we work on daily and we just need to get better day by day,” said West coach Matt Fontaine.

Nick Masse led West with 19 points while Marcus Chung added 15. Jaymein Aponte scored 11 points for the Falcons while Justin Shepard added 10.

Although the Falcons have lost back to back contests to drop to 0-2 in league play, they have been competitive in each contest especially considering the circumstances.

Fontaine was pleased with the team’s effort and improvement in the past week and hopes that the experience gained will pay dividends for the younger kids when the remainder of the roster returns this week.

“It’s been a tough week because we asked a lot of them, we’re down a few bodies. But no one is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve just got to keep going and hopefully as the weeks go on we learn from it. The wins and losses don’t show it, but they had a great week,” Fontaine said. “It shows in the progressions that we have made in the past week. We have a few guys coming back so hopefully they’re ready to roll, but this was a good week of experience for them. We’ll be ready, it’s a long season.”

The Falcons went on to face Burrillville on the road on Tuesday evening, but the results were not available at press time.

“We’re still learning. This is a young group. Every varsity game is a new experience for them. It’s there and we keep missing a few little things. We are learning, we are practicing, game day should be the easy day,” said Fontaine. “We have a few kids coming back, it’s a good group and we will be able to pull it all together.”