The Cranston West boys basketball team fell to host Burrillville 55-41 in the Division II prelims last week at the Bronco Dome.

The two teams were tied 19-19 at halftime, but the Broncos would come out hot in the third quarter and mount a 14-0 run to begin the second half. Although the Falcons settled down in the fourth quarter, the deficit was too much to overcome as Burrillville wrapped up the win.

“It was just the ups and downs of the game. Burrillville is very well coached, very disciplined. I don’t think they made any crazy adjustments in the second half, I think they just executed. Their experience took over, they hit their shots, and once they grabbed the lead, it felt like the game was over. That’s part of our lack of experience. They executed when they had to,” said West coach James Sweeney.

Marcus Chung led the Falcons with 15 points while Ryan Zarrella added 10 and Anthony Veltri nine.

After a three-win season last year, the Falcons turned things around this winter to reach the playoffs. The Falcons started off the year 2-5 but would go on a tear in the second half to finish with 11 wins.

Sweeney, who was in his first year as head coach, was proud of the team and its improvement as the year wore on.

“It was an honor for me to coach this group. We really had to dig deep to see what we could do, what we could pull off in a short period of time. These seniors came ready to work. The kids stuck with the process and we started winning games. This group was able to work through adversity. They wanted it, they wanted that respect. They wanted to prove people wrong,” said Sweeney.

The Falcons are set to graduate a large senior core including guys like Chung, Hudson Carvalho and Nick Masse. However, they will also return some key players including Zarrella and Jaymien Aponte.

“Now it’s about building on what we did this season, and now I have a feel for these kids and what makes them tick. I’m excited about what we have coming back next year. Now there’s expectations. We won 11 games and were on the brink of the (open state) tournament, so teams are going to expect us to repeat that or do even better. I think they’re ready for that,” said Sweeney.

The Cranston East girls also fell in the prelims, as Smithfield rolled to the 58-38 decision.

Aydan Gulliver and Mya Jiminez led the way with 10 points each. The Bolts finished the season with an 8-10 record to return to the postseason.