No one has beaten the Bay View girls’ basketball team this season, and the list of those who have tried now includes Cranston West.

But few teams have challenged the Bengals like the Falcons did on Friday night.

West used the size of center Erin Blake and strong all-around team defense to keep the game close most of the way before Bay View pulled away in the second half for a 43-26 victory.

The Bengals are 10-0 and are the only unbeaten team in Division I. West is 4-6, in fourth place in Division I-Central and in 10th place overall in D-I. The top 12 teams make the postseason.

“They put up 77 (on Feb. 4 against North Kingstown),” said West head coach Richard Perrotta. “Our defense buckled down. We played some good D. It was just the little things.”

The 43 points that Bay View scored were its second-lowest total of the season, just higher than the 40 it scored against Ponaganset on Feb. 6.

Blake had a lot to do with that. The 5-foot-10 sophomore was dominant in the first half, scoring all six of her points while also registering three blocks. She also missed six free throws in the half, as Bay View had little choice but to put her on the line.

At the 4:36 mark in the half the score was 11-11.

“Erin Blake, she played out of her mind tonight,” Perrotta said.

But shortly after that, Blake left the game with her second foul and Bay View made its move.

Over the final 2:32 of the half, the Bengals went on a 10-1 run, with star Raquel Pederzani doing most of the heavy lifting. After Dakota Grenier scored inside and Dyamond Azakpo added another bucket, Pederzani scored six of her game-high 12 points on Bay View’s final three possessions. Blake re-entered the game and made one free throw in the final minute, but West went into the half down 21-12.

“We did some real good things,” Perrotta said. “Realistically, we probably should have been up in the first half. We missed four layups, seven or eight free throws.”

After the half, West stayed close early on. Lauren Salisbury scored inside to make it 23-16, and Courtney Lambrese – West’s leading scorer – made her first field goal of the game two possessions later to make it 25-18.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, they never got closer than seven the rest of the way. Abigail Burke scored for Bay View on its next possession, spearheading an 11-1 run that gave the Bengals control. When it was said and done, West trailed 36-19 with 8:17 left.

“It got away a little bit,” Perrotta said. “A couple swings – we go down and miss, they go down and score.”

Blake picked up her third and fourth fouls during that time, causing her to come out of the game and helping Bay View to open up the lead.

“It’s the nature of the game,” Perrotta said. “Everyone has to pick it up when she’s out.”

West did make a small run to get the deficit back to 13. Lambrese made two free throws, and after a putback by Dakota Grenier, Gabby Sayaf scored on a fast break and Tarah Okolowitcz hit a shot from the block to make it 38-25.

A Bay View turnover gave West a chance to get within 11 or 10, but Lambrese missed a three and a Paige Monk scored going the other way.

“Even in the second half, down 15 I didn’t feel like we were out of it,” Perrotta said. “We just couldn’t get the shots to go down.”

The Falcons continued to play tough defense the rest of the way, but couldn’t do nearly enough offensively to get back in the game.

West got eight points from Lambrese, six from Blake and four apiece from Salisbury and Okolowitcz. Jayda Sanzaro added two. The Falcons are also playing the rest of the season without guard and senior captain Kristen Traficante, who had been playing with an injured ankle.

“We’ve got to pick it up without Kristen,” Perrotta said. “We’ve got (Bay View) again. I think we can build on it for the second meeting. Right now, they’re the best team in the state and I think we played real well against them.”

West is now battling for a playoff spot, as it is just 1.5 games up on the No. 13 team in the division. It had a key game with 3-8 Ponaganset on Tuesday, with the results unavailable at press time.

It was scheduled to host 7-5 Westerly on Thursday at 7 p.m.