Basketball Game Preview: Coventry Oakers vs. Cranston West Falcons

The Coventry Oakers will head out on the road to square off against the Cranston West Falcons at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Coventry has been dominant on offense recently, having racked up an incredible 192 points over their last three contests.

Coventry is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: North Providence, who was ranked second at the time (Coventry was ranked 16th). Coventry took a 69-59 hit to the loss column at the hands of North Providence on Monday. The Oakers' loss signaled the end of their six-game winning streak.

Despite the defeat, Coventry got top-tier performance from Brayden Martin, who went 14 for 20 on his way to 34 points and five assists. Martin's evening made it eight games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Finegan, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 11 points and six assists.

Meanwhile, Cranston West ended up a good deal behind Rogers on Thursday and lost 47-33. The matchup marked the Falcons' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Coventry's loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 6-2. As for Cranston West, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-4.

Coventry came up short against Cranston West in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 54-47. Can Coventry avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.