'Bolts use strong second half to down Falcons

By Ryan D. Murray
Posted 2/22/17

The Cranston East Thunderbolts used a big second half to blow past the Cranston West Falcons, 67-49, in a packed Thunderdome on senior night. East senior guard Sam Hanley led East with 21 points and sophomore Aireus

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'Bolts use strong second half to down Falcons

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The Cranston East Thunderbolts used a big second half to blow past the Cranston West Falcons, 67-49, in a packed Thunderdome on senior night. East senior guard Sam Hanley led East with 21 points and sophomore Aireus Raspberry added 16. For the Falcons, senior Brett Bucci had 15 points and junior Will Such had 10.

It was a battle in the first half, but East got some separation in the second.

“I really wanted to make sure that they understood that they have to come out and play,” Cranston East head coach Isaiah McDaniel said. “These Cranston East, Cranston West games are always tough. Even when I was in high school, they came in here my senior year and beat us, 36-35, in overtime and we were supposed to win the game so, whenever you’re playing a game like this, you have to play a full 32 minutes and be ready for ups and downs. I think we kind of relaxed in the first half, but in the second half we really came out and rebooted.”

Bucci got West on the board first when he drove through the lane for a lay-in. Moments later, Bucci dashed to the bucket again, but this time, Donovan Ranglin swatted his shot away. Shortly after, East’s Raspberry stole the ball and went to the rim for a layup, tying it at 2.

Moments later, West went on a spurt and took the lead while cleaning up the offensive boards. Such tipped in a Bucci miss to put West up 8-7. Next, Steven Rocchio made a runner. Then, Bucci and Such both scored with putbacks, giving West a 14-7 advantage.

With under seven minutes to play in the first half, Such hit a layup to extend the West lead to eight. But, Hanley responded with a corner 3 to cut it to five. West pushed it back up to nine when Such cleaned up a miss and the center followed it with an outlet pass to senior point guard Steve Piscopiello for a breakaway layup with 3:38 remaining in the half.

East senior Janzel Liberata nailed a corner 3 ball to cut it to six. Next, Raspberry charged the hoop for an old-fashioned three-point play to cut it to three with 3:04 left in the half.

Shortly after, Mack Hanley dished to Raspberry, who buried a jumper to cut it to one. Next, Raspberry buried a 3-pointer to put East up 24-22. Just before the break, Liberata cleaned up the glass after a miss from Raspberry and scored on the putback, giving East a 26-22 halftime lead.

East would build on that lead in the second half.

Sam Hanley buried a 3 to begin the frame. Then, sophomore Nelvin Blanco scooped a shot off the glass to put East up 31-22. East went on a 7-0 run with Sam Hanley, Anthony Wilcox and Raspberry all scoring deuces to go up 16 with 12:42 remaining.

Bucci retaliated for West with a spinning layup to cut it to 14. But, Sam Hanley answered with a 3-pointer. Hanley followed that with a layup and then Raspberry flew to the hoop and made a two-point basket and added a free throw to give East a 46-24 advantage. After Wilcox hit a layup and Mack Hanley a turnaround bank shot, East opened up a 26-point lead.

East would ultimately roll to a 67-49 victory.

“They made some adjustments I think at halftime, put some pressure on our guards and it made it difficult for us to get it into the entry,” Cranston West head coach John Macera said.  

East improved to 8-9 while West dropped to 0-17 in league play.

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