The Cranston West boys’ basketball team followed a familiar script in Friday’s game against Classical. The Falcons hung close early, fell behind, made a run but ultimately fell short in the end.

Still, on Senior Night with no playoffs on the horizon, the Falcons could take solace in the fact that the script wasn’t exactly the same.

In a December meeting, the Falcons lost to Classical by 29 points. This time, the Purple held off a late charge by the Falcons to win 60-56.

“It’s been the story of the year,” said West head coach Jim Moretti. “Work hard, come from behind and then you can’t get over the hump. But you know what? They didn’t quit. We came back and made a nice run. They beat us by a lot early in the season, so this is a moral victory.”

The loss dropped to the Falcons to 3-14 heading into Tuesday’s season finale against Central. Results of that game were unavailable at press time.

Against Classical, the Falcons showed that they’re not just playing out the string. They trailed by as many as 18 in the second half, but got all the way back within two before falling just short.

“I thought our defense did a nice job tonight,” Moretti said. “We tried to mix it up with their shooters. They just didn’t quit all night, which was good to see.”

West held Senior Night festivities before the game, honoring Brendan Bucci, Rob DeCosta, Brian Devine, Konner Gershkoff, Sean Hayden, Eric Rosa and Matt Scavitti. Those seven were then the only ones who saw the court in the first half, and they held tough throughout, building a 22-18 lead before Classical ended the half on an 11-3 run.

The Falcons went back to their regular lineup for the second half, but Classical kept rolling. The Purple started the second half on a 17-3 run, taking a 46-28 lead with 10:54 left. Kwami Moreno had seven points to spark the surge, while Toe Terrill drained a pair of threes.

“They’ve got three guys who can shoot it and handle it,” Moretti said. “They’re athletic.”

But the Falcons weren’t ready to pack it in.

DeCosta hit two quick buckets to make it a 14-point game then made a three to cap a personal 7-0 run that trimmed the lead to 11.

After Moreno scored on a follow, Gershkoff hit a tough leaner and James Weaver scored inside to get the deficit into single digits. Classical answered with a bucket by Dominic Gomes before Gershkoff buried a pull-up three to make it an eight-point game.

It was back-and-forth from there until Gershkoff hit another three with 2:26 left to make it a four-point game. After Classical’s Ismael Batista made two free throws, Tevin Goins scored inside to make it a four-point game again with 1:43 left.

Hayden stole the ball for West on the Purple’s next trip, but Gomes couldn’t convert on a tough shot in the lane. Classical came up empty on its next possession, though, which kept West within striking distance.

Goins then hit a hook shot after collecting an offensive rebound, making it 58-56 with 14 seconds left.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, that was the end of the road. West pushed hard for a steal but couldn’t get it and had to foul Batista. He made both free throws to push the lead to four, and Gershkoff missed a three at the other end.

“We hung in,” Moretti said. “Just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Rosa led the Falcons with 16 points and Gershkoff tallied 14. Goins added nine, DeCosta had seven and Hayden scored five. Moreno led all scorers with 20 for the Purple.

The loss was the third straight for the Falcons, who had won two in a row before that.

“A couple of breaks early in the season might have given us that confidence we needed,” Moretti said. “Then it just snowballed. But to their credit, they haven’t quit.”

And though the seniors didn’t go out with a win, it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying.

“Good group,” Moretti said. “They were here for four years. It’s been a consistent program and a good group. They were part of some good runs for us. It didn’t work out for us this year, but you can’t be that disappointed. We didn’t have any major issues and they worked hard.”