Sports Roundup: East Hockey on a Roll

Cranston East Boys Hockey has really turned their season around since falling to rival Mt. Hope twice in the same week over a month ago. Since the loss to Mt. Hope on Dec. 16, the Thunderbolts have won four out of their last five games, with their only loss coming against undefeated Johnston/North Providence in a game in which the Bolts led 1-0 going into the third period. The Bolts have outscored their opponents 22-10 in their last five games and are now in a two-team tie for third place in Division III. Thomas O'mara and Bob Kuczek have led the team in points with 17 apiece and will look to continue their heightened level of play over the last month against Warwick Vets on Saturday, a squad which they defeated 7-3 in their last meeting.

Cranston West Boys Hockey continues to struggle with two more losses this past week. The Falcons have lost five straight and haven't had an outright victory since December 22nd against Barrington. The Falcons are in the middle of the pack as far as goals allowed, but have struggled offensively and are tied for the lowest scoring output in the league. The Falcons are now 3-6-1 on the season and have seven games remaining, three against teams they have defeated already this season. If positive results are in the Falcon's future, they'll need to improve their power play. They are only scoring 1.9% of the time on the man advantage and will need to step it up on Monday against North Kingstown.

Cranston East Boys Basketball comes into this week riding a two-game winning streak, having reached a .500 record again at 4-4 in Division I West. The Bolts are 8-4 overall, having a lot of success in non-league games, and three of their losses have come against division leaders Central and St. Raphael. East will have a tough task on Tuesday when they travel to North Kingstown to take on the 7-2 Skippers.

Cranston West Boys Basketball is still scuffling and is now 1-8 overall on the season. But on a positive note, the Falcons finally got into the win column on Friday with a 46-44 victory over South Kingstown. The Falcons will look to build on their recent success on Tuesday against Bishop Hendricken. 

Cranston East Girls Basketball is now 4-5 on the season and has had a very up and down season. The Lady bolts haven't been able to get any game-to-game consistency going, falling every other game by a large margin. The latest of these defeats came against Rogers when Cranston East had one of its lowest scoring outputs of the season, falling 52-30. The loss came after an emotional 50-49 victory over Prout. The Lady Bolts sit in the middle of the pack in Division II South, so by no means are they out of contention. But East will need to develop some consistency and string some victories together in order to move up in the standings.

Cranston West Girls Basketball is also 4-5 on the season and had a couple of nice wins consecutively before being trounced by Exeter/Greenwich on Thursday, 69-34. The Falcons will need to regroup quickly after the crushing defeat, as their next opponent won't be any easier. West travels to LaSalle on Wednesday to face the 9-0, Division I leading Rams.