The Cranston East boys’ basketball team is off to a hot start to its season. 

The ‘Bolts are currently 5-1 and 1-1 in league play, with their only Division I loss coming at home to North Kingstown, 69-54. 

The team has been led by senior guard Jessy Taveras, who is currently third in the state in points per game with an even 23. 

East has been on fire as of late, winning its last five games. In its most recent victory, a lopsided 72-53 win at West Warwick on Friday night, Taveras led the ‘Bolts with a game-high 23 points. James Kirwin was the only other East player in double-figures with 13 points. 

Prior to that, the ‘Bolts handed Division III Johnston only its second loss of the season, with a 66-50 win. 

East continued league play last night, as it hosted Central at 7 p.m. Results from the game were unavailable at press time. The ‘Bolts will play again on Friday at 2-0 Hope at 7 p.m. 

West still looking for first win

The Falcons have played seven games this season and have yet to get in the win column. 

The Falcons are now 0-3 in Division I with a 61-52 loss at Coventry on Monday night.

Despite playing in some close games, West just hasn’t been able to put it all together and play a full 32 minutes, as the Falcons have had defensive lapses for periods of games. 

West dropped its second Division I game of the season on Friday night, falling to 0-2 with a 76-50 loss to undefeated La Salle. Andrew Albro led West with a team-high 14 points in the loss. 

The Falcons also lost last Tuesday night to Division III Toll Gate, 44-36. Albro led the Falcons once again with 11, while senior forward Brett Bucci chipped in with nine points. 

West will be back in action on Friday, when it hosts Classical at 7 p.m. 

West girls’ basketball continues to struggle in D-I

The Falcons are having a tough time finding any success with their league schedule, as they’ve played some of the state’s best teams and currently sit in last place at 0-4. 

West built some confidence with a 60-17 win over Providence Country Day in The Prout Holiday Classic last week, but then lost the next night to Prout. 

The Falcons then returned to league play on Saturday, where they ran into an undefeated Bay View team and lost 55-37. Erin Blake led West with a team-high 12 points, while Tarah Okolowitcz scored 11 and Gabby Sayaf chipped in with seven. 

West was set to play Rogers for a non-league game on Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. It’ll return to league play on Friday, as the Falcons host Coventry at 7 p.m. They’re hoping that some of the success that they experienced against PCD will translate over to their Division I schedule sooner rather than later. 

Tough weekend for Cranston hockey teams

Two tough losses over the weekend kept the Cranston Co-op boys’ hockey team as the only winless team in the Championship Division. 

Despite playing two close games, the Falcons fell to 0-7 in league play with the 0-2 weekend. 

The Falcons played their closest game of the season till this point on Friday night, dropping a 5-4 heartbreaker to Smithfield. West was led by three players with three points apiece in the loss. Travis Collins had two goals and as assist, Austin Alzate had a goal and two assists and defenseman Nick Kopsick tallied three assists. 

On Saturday night, the Falcons got a big boost in net from freshman standout Darren DeAngelis, who turned aside 40 shots in a 3-1 loss to Hendricken. 

Although DeAngelis was outstanding, it still wasn’t enough. 

West’s lone goal came from Collins, with assists going to Alzate and Kopsick. 

West will look to get in the win column on Friday night, when it takes on defending state champion Mount St. Charles at 8 p.m. at Cranston Ice Rink. 

It’s been a familiar story for the Cranston Co-op girls’ hockey team. 

The team is now the only winless team in the girls’ division, as Cranston fell to 0-6 with a 9-1 loss to Barrington/Mt. Hope/Portsmouth Co-op on Saturday night. 

Despite a solid effort, Cranston was unable to keep the puck out of its own net, something that it’s had trouble with all season long. 

The good news is that they’ll have two opportunities to get on the right track this week, as the team is scheduled to play on Wednesday night against Narragansett/North Kingstown/South Kingstown Co-op at 7 p.m. at URI’s Brad Boss Arena, before playing Burrillville/Ponaganset at 7 p.m. at Cranston Ice Rink on Saturday night.