By ALEX SPONSELLER The Cranston West girls basketball team split its two games over the weekend, falling to visiting North Kingstown 55-41 but turned around to beat Scituate 68-49 the following day.

Catherine Albizu led the Lady Falcons with 12 points scored against Scituate in the win while Maylina Cotto-Santiago added 11 and Kiley Abendroth eight.

Maddie Alves had a solid outing as well, finishing with four rebounds and three steals, while Kaitlyn Antonucci hauled in six rebounds. Maia Riccio also chipped in five rebounds and a pair of steals for West.

“The continuity was where it needed to be as far as (playing as) a team and not individuals, that was the main concept that we discussed coming back from the loss. That and staying out of foul trouble. That was another issue we had going into the game. We want to keep it clean, use each other, use our bench and wear them down,” said West coach Nerson Santiago.

Albizu led the Falcons against North Kingstown by putting up 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals, followed by Alves with nine points. Abendroth finished with five rebounds, as well as Olivia VanPatten and Riccio.

Depth and versatility have been key for West in the past few outings and will continue to be the focus as the club enters the back half of its schedule.

“We’ve seen progress with some of the girls and we have been putting them in because we’ve seen that progress and feel that they’re ready for the floor. We’re trying to use some more legs, use that depth to our advantage. We want to try to keep everybody involved on the team and have them carry that energy,” said Santiago, who has also been pleased with the return of Albizu. “Catherine has made good progress, we rely on her for her rebounding and tenacity. Once she becomes a more formidable decision maker, she will be vital for our offense. She can lead the way, she can get some rebounds, putbacks, and once she starts scoring, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

The team improved to 4-4 in league play with the win over Scituate and played St. Ray’s on Tuesday, but the results were not available at press time.

Although the Falcons have had their ups and down so far this winter, Santiago and company are confident that they will make some noise down the stretch and be prepared for anything come playoff time.

“I think we can compete, we just have to stay out of foul trouble. We’ve been giving up way too many points on free throws at the line. I think our girls can compete. It’s one of those things where when we’ve been hot, we’ve been hot, when we’re not, we’re not. It’s either on or off, so we want to build some more consistency heading into the playoffs,” Santiago said. “Everyday is an improvement. We’ve just got to pay attention to details, do the little things right and put in the effort. Our eyes are on the playoff and getting to that second season, when you get to the playoffs anything can happen.”