Cranston West Hangs Tough at EWG

The Cranston High School West girls’ basketball team showed a lot of heart and determination Friday night in a 62-54 loss at Exeter/West Greenwich.

Down by as many as 14 points in the first half, against a heavily favored EWG squad (11-3 overall, 10-3 in the league), it would have been easy for the Falcons to give in to frustration. But instead, Cranston West started the second period with a 10-2 run to pull within four points, 40-36.

“We hung tough all night,” said Falcons’ head coach Marty Crowley. “We played well in the second half, but we essentially lost the game in the first half.”

Stephanie Sayaf scored 15 of her game-high 22 points in the second half for the Falcons. Teammate Ailis Hanley contributed seven of her 12 points in the second period.

Cranston West closed within three points of the Scarlet Knights when Sayaf hit a jump shot to make the score 52-49 with 3:20 remaining.

EWG responded by scoring the next eight points, half of which came on jumpers by Katelyn McElroy, who had a team-high 20 points.

In the last minute of play, Jessica Ricci converted two free throw attempts and Hanley sank a 3-pointer for the Falcons, but it was too late to close the gap.

Sayaf not only kept the Falcons within reach with her scoring, but her ball handling proved especially valuable. With the team’s top two point guards unavailable to play, Sayaf had to direct the offense much more than she was accustomed to doing.

“Steph’s versatility as a player helped us out quite a bit tonight,” said Crowley.

The loss drops Cranston West’s record to 5-12 overall and 3-11 in Division I-South.

“We’ve lost some games this year that we should have won,” said Crowley. “We’ve played better against the better teams, but overall we have to be more consistent.”

The Falcons will play their next three games at home, starting with LaSalle Academy (13-1 in league) on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.