By ALEX SPONSELLER The Toll Gate boys basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak when it traveled to West Warwick and edged the Wizards 50-47.

After taking a 12-point lead into the halftime break, the Titans would cool off for much of the second half as West Warwick cut the lead to single digits late in the third quarter. The Wizards, thanks to multiple late three-pointers, would make it a one-score game when Toll Gate led 50-47 with nine seconds remaining. However, the Toll Gate defense would come up with a stop as the buzzer sounded to wrap up the win and get back on track.

“It was huge. We dropped some close ones early before the break, then we hit a COVID stretch that hurt us as well, had a few injuries. We just kept saying, ‘We’ll get the next one, we’ll get the next one,’ so hopefully this can carry us over and get us a few more wins,” said Toll Gate coach Tom Rayko after the victory.

Coming up big for Toll Gate was Pharrell Soares, who led the team with 15 points and made a key free throw down the stretch, as well as a defensive stop in the final two minutes.

“He’s a big presence, especially as a big guy, he can handle the ball, he can shoot from the inside, get down to the post, he can play every facet of the game. He’s a great piece to have in that capacity, huge guy for us,” said Rayko.

Another key to holding on in the end was adjusting the defensive approach for West Warwick’s Brady Miale, who led the Wizards with 15 points and sank three 3-pointers.

“(Miale) can shoot, he can catch fire. The first couple we didn’t switch, the last couple we ended up switching each time on the screen. We knew that once he got hot, we’d definitely need to shut it down and keep him away from the basket. We knew it was coming,” Rayko said.

Shawn Nolette added 10 points for Toll Gate while Jackson Cehelsky scored seven. Rayko has been pleased by the guard tandem of Nolette and Cehelsky as of late.

“We run a lot of motion stuff and we have some interchangeable pieces like them which is a bonus for us. For us, we’re not always the most consistent, so to be able to throw new guys in and run the same sets is huge for us. Pharrell is another guy that can run the point for us,” Rayko said.

Although the Titans were excited to close out the win, they are looking to use this momentum to improve as they enter the late stretch of the regular season's schedule.

“That was big for us because we had some close ones when we let them back in,” said Rayko. “This is huge for our mentality. We still need to get better at closing out games, we made it a little more interesting than we needed to.”