The ‘Bolts and the Falcons came into Thursday night’s game as two desperate teams.

The stakes were high, as East would move back to .500 with a win, while West was looking to get off the schneid and register its first win of the season.

Despite a good effort from West, East was just too quick, long and athletic for the young Falcons.

The ‘Bolts led from start to finish, surrendering just 13 points in the first half to build a 17-point halftime lead, in an eventual 58-41 win.

“It’s always good to get this one,” East head coach John Smith said of the rivalry game. “We knew that they would come in fired up as well. We played well in spurts, but there were spurts where we didn’t play well.”

East’s pace of play clearly bothered the Falcons, as West turned the ball over 25 times in the game – 13 in the first half and 12 in the second.

“It’s not for a lack of effort,” West head coach John Macera said. “It’s just execution. That’s the bottom line, they’re not at the point where they can execute.”

After a West turnover five minutes into the game, East point guard Jessy Taveras got fouled taking a three. Taveras would sink all three of his free throws to increase East’s lead to 11-2. The free throws were part of a 7-0 run for the ‘Bolts.

The run was ended when West forward Brett Bucci collected an offensive rebound on the next possession and converted a layup, cutting his team’s deficit to 11-4.

From there, however, East would put together another run.

Djibril Cissoko stole the ball and nailed a runner in the lane with 7:10 remaining in the first half, stretching East’s run to 9-0, giving it a 20-4 lead.

West just couldn’t get into any offensive rhythm, as it had as many turnovers as points in the opening half.

“I thought, defensively, we played very well,” Smith said. “We caused a lot of turnovers. I thought our pace really bothered them as well. We wanted to play at our pace and speed the game up. That worked out well for us.”

East, on the other hand, scored 30 points in the first 16 minutes of the game. The ‘Bolts had nine different players combine for those 30 points, as they were able to share the ball and get several players involved.

“We were moving the ball much better than we have been,” Smith said. “When we’re doing that, other guys are getting involved. That takes the pressure off of one guy to do all of the scoring. It’s good so their defense can’t just key on one guy.”

East built off of its 30-13 halftime lead right out of the locker room, as Frankie Derisier was able to clean up an offensive rebound and fight for a layup, giving the ‘Bolts a 32-13 lead.

Anthony Lopez-Veras was a bright spot for West in the second half, scoring nine of his game-high 12 points after the break. Lopez-Veras converted two highlight reel and-ones in the second half, as West played better in the final 16 minutes.

Taveras would stretch East’s lead to 23 points with just under 10 minutes to play in the game, stealing the ball and absorbing contact at the rim for an and-one. The three-point play would give the ‘Bolts a 46-23 lead.

Taveras scored a team-high 10 points in East’s win, while Cissoko followed him with eight. Guard Sam Hanley and forward James Kirwin each scored seven, while Frankie Derisier, Jason Derisier and Joe Hernandez scored six apiece.

West tied East in the second half, 28-28, but the game was already out of reach before the Falcons started to settle in.

Other than the 12 points from Lopez-Veras, everyone else really struggled to score. Andrew Albro scored seven points, but no one else scored more than five, as Bucci netted exactly five and point guard Matt Lonardo scored four.

“We’re just going to keep chugging and keep on working,” Macera said. “I’m going to stay as positive as I can with them. We’ve been watching film. All we can do is keep teaching and keep learning.”

The Falcons, now 0-9 in Division I, have definitely struggled, but will have some opportunities to get in the win column coming up.

West still has West Warwick, Central and East Providence remaining on its schedule – three teams that have combined for just one win.

“They’re still playing hard for me, that’s all I can ask right now,” Macera said. “We have games coming up against teams that are where we are in West Warwick, Central and East Providence – so we have some winnable games coming up. I thought tonight everything might come together. They have been practicing hard, but we were just a half second behind.”

The Falcons played North Kingstown on Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time.

East has propelled itself back into the middle of the pack in D-I with its two wins over East Providence and West last week.

The ‘Bolts hosted 7-2 La Salle on Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time.

However, East was feeling good after its two-straight wins.

“Those were definitely two big wins,” Smith said. “We have La Salle next, so it’s big to get a little bit of momentum going into that game.”