Schools
Girls Basketball: West Dominates Pilgrim on the Road
Cranston West gets out to a 15-0 lead to start the game and cruised to a 54-32 victory.
Cranston West traveled to Pilgrim on Monday night, still in search of its first league victory. The Falcons got into the win column with suffocating defense and good ball movement, defeating the Patriots 54-32.
The Falcons came out a bit flat and looked sluggish on the defensive end. After a possession in which they surrendered three offensive rebounds, West Coach Martin Crowley benched his entire starting unit after only a minute of play.
"We weren't rebounding. It was something that we talked about and if they aren't going to do it, then we need to remind them why they're here. We tell them we need more than five kids to win. And that second unit gave us a defensive spark," Crowley said.
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The scoreboard read zeroes until 3 minutes into the game, after the Falcons' starters re-entered, when Courtney Lambrese knocked down a jumper. West would sprint out to to a 15-0 lead, with a lot of help from Forward Alexis Ciacciarelli, who started in place of Falcon Captain Caroline Decataldo who was out with an ankle injury. Ciacciarelli had back to back buckets including a three-point play in the Falcon spurt.
"Lexie did a nice job tonight. She rebounded well and she got our offense going when we were struggling early on," Crowley said.
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Pilgrim didn't score until there was less than five minutes remaining in the half, when Danielle Leblanc knocked down a three.
The Falcons led by 16 at halftime and would stretch their lead to as many as 28 in the second half. Their methodical offense led to easy opportunities on the interior and open shots from the perimeter. Courtney Lambrese had the hot hand for the Falcons in the second half with eleven points, helping her team cruise to victory.
With the win the Falcons are now 1-2 in the division and 2-3 overall for the season. Cranston West will face off with Portsmouth in their next game and Crowley is looking for his team play a similar brand of basketball, with a few less turnovers.
Top Scorers
Cranston West
Lambrese (16)
Ciacciarelli (11)
Pilgrim
Heidel (12)
Leblanc (10)
