Can Cranston West girls pull an upset in quarterfinals? Falcons race past Classical in play-in
CRANSTON — The Cranston West girls basketball team had the win in the bag after three minutes.
But Classical outscored themselves in the second quarter by more than four times their opening frame total. The problem for the Purple? They still trailed by more than 20 at the break.
The Falcons raced to a 68-26 final in a Division I girls basketball play-in tilt on Thursday night in Cranston. The sixth-seeded Falcons travel to No. 3 Barrington on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. quarterfinal tip.
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Cranston West (14-7) seized a 13-1 lead with 5:19 left in the opening frame as Maia Riccio whipped a one-handed pass from the left wing to the block to Olivia Moran-Tedeschi. With a minute left in the opening stanza, Riccio canned a triple for a 28-3 advantage. Inside or from distance, the Falcons scored at ease, which makes the middle-of-the-pack squad dangerous for an upset bid against the Eagles.
“We had good transition and I think we did a good job sharing the ball, considering we struggled with that in the past,” Riccio said. “I think we did well pushing the ball and maintaining the speed of the game.”
Barrington, against significantly harder competition, managed just 38 points in the regular-season finale against Bay View. To pull off the upset, West is going to have to run in transition, which they did on Thursday and limit their turnovers.
But West did connect on nine 3s, some contested and some not, for a legitimate 68-point outburst. Kyla Buco and Tedeschi-Moran led the way with 18 and 17 points, respectively. All nine players for the Falcons registered a basket.
“We're a driving team, but we also rely on shooters,” the Falcons' Alyssa Robinson said. “When our shooters are on and everyone's making their shots, it's so crucial for our team.”
Cranston West lost to Barrington, 60-49, in late January.
“I think it's going to take a different type of preparations for that [quarterfinal], but definitely sharing the ball is important,” Riccio said of the Barrington matchup. “Getting everyone involved was definitely a key to us winning and succeeding.”
Classical plays without its star
Purple (5-14) star Shanell Smith-Akpan was unavailable with an injury suffered at the beginning of the month.
Classical, which trailed, 60-22, after the third quarter, relies heavily on the junior for scoring and was outmatched with her sideline. But good news for the Purple? Smith-Akpan should be back next year and Classical is graduating only one player.
“I won't necessarily call it a rebuilding year,” Classical coach Anthony Voccio said. “We just had injuries down the stretch.”
Classical, who was paced by Daniella Jimenez’s 17 points, lost an additional two starters to injuries this season and couldn’t recover without depth.
“We gave it our best shot and we knew what we were walking into,” Voccio said.
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cranston West ease past Classical in girls basketball playoffs
