Girls Basketball: Thunderbolts Handle the Storm, Subduing the Hurricanes

The Thunderbolts' defensive intensity and true grit shined throughout the game, paving their way to the victory Monday night. The other team, Warwick Vets, struggled to hit open shots and could not get into any offensive rhythm.

The Thunderbolts led throughout and fought off a late-game rally by the Hurricanes, winning it 39-28.

Vets scored the first bucket of the game, but a 13-2 run by Cranston East have them a 13-4 lead with about seven minutes left in the first half. Emely Ramirez had 7 points and two assists during the run. She finished with 12 points and 6 assists, as she ignited the Bolts offense all night.

Rich Glover, East's head coach, spoke about her play on the other side of the ball. "Emely is the quickest kid on the court on most nights and she’s playing excellent defense," he said.

The Bolts were not finished yet. At the end of the half a 9-2 run extended the lead to 22-8. Senior Kelsy Evje knocked down a three, off a dish by Ramirez, for the last bucket in the run.

East maintained the double digit lead for the majority of the second half. Ramirez drove and dished it to the baseline and Evje nailed the three pointer, giving East a 33-19 lead with six and a half minutes left in the game.

Warwick Vets refused to go away quietly, scoring six consecutive points to trim the gap to eight points. With two minutes left in the game, Vets' Emily Amonte's drove to the hoop and finished the play, cutting the deficit to 35-28.

However, their comeback bid would fall short. Cranston East won the game 39-28 and improved to 3-3 on the year, 2-2 in league play.

"The defense was the key to the game," Glover added, "At the end of the game they didn’t have as much intensity and we have to work on finishing games and boxing out."