Basketball Game Preview: Cranston West Falcons vs. Portsmouth Patriots

The Cranston West Falcons will face off against the Portsmouth Patriots on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Cranston West is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: Tolman/Shea, who was ranked 20th at the time (Cranston West was ranked 22nd). Cranston West came out on top in a nail-biter against Tolman/Shea on Wednesday, sneaking past 56-54.

Kyla Buco

Points

02/12/25 vs Tolman/Shea	22
02/11/25 vs Ponaganset	5
02/07/25 @ Moses Brown	20
02/05/25 @ Juanita Sanchez Complex	18
01/30/25 @ St. Mary Academy-Bay View	16
+ 15 more games

Cranston West's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kyla Buco, who went 9-for-20 en route to 22 points. With that strong performance, Buco is now averaging an impressive 15.2 points per game. Another player making a difference was Talya Walker, who posted 13 points and seven boards.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.5 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Thursday. They took their matchup with ease, bagging a 57-24 win over the Wizards. The Patriots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 20 points or more this season.

Portsmouth pushed their record up to 12-5 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 19.0 points over those games. As for Cranston West, their win bumped their record up to 7-13.

Cranston West came up short against Portsmouth in their previous meeting back in January, falling 37-25. Can Cranston West avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.