The Cranston West boys basketball team is getting ready for tip off and is looking to turn things around after a three-win 2021 campaign.

The Falcons return a big senior core, including All-Division player Nick Masse as well as fellow captains Marcus Chung and Hudson Carvalho. The team will also be led by new coach James Sweeney, who has served as the program’s JV coach for the previous five seasons.

“We have all been playing together for awhile, so I am just excited to get the group together this season,” said Carvalho.

Chung feels that the chemistry between the players will be key in taking a step forward.

“As captains, we are just looking to lead by example. We have been in the program for four years now so we know how it goes. We’re just looking to bring everyone together and fight some wins out,” said Chung. “The chemistry is there so it is just about getting to practice and executing our plays, the defensive schemes. We have the talent, we have the skill, so it is really just about executing.”

Although Sweeney enters his first season as the team’s coach, he has already worked with most of the players in some capacity, whether it was on JV or in other local youth organizations. That familiarity has allowed the team to get off to what Sweeney believes is a head start.

“Having that experience with the seniors is huge. Not just the experience in playing, but coaching them before in JV, in CYO, CLCF, Little League. With those seniors, although it is my first year, it feels like we have already started. We feel like the culture is already in midseason form. With that camaraderie, I think we are set up to have a really successful season,” said Sweeney.

With the team’s first game this Friday, Sweeney and his staff are relying on the seniors to set the bar and for the rest of the club to come together on the back end.

“My biggest focus has been playing together. If we play together, win together, lose together, we can make a jump from last year. We had a lot of inexperience last year in terms of varsity playing time, but they got that last year and now the seniors are ready to lead the way. We have some talented juniors in sophomores that will help, too, so this year I think we can put it all together,” said Sweeney.

Sweeney and his staff have been active in their public outreach on social media and hosted the team’s first-ever media day at the school on Sunday morning. While the Falcons took care of housekeeping duties such as team photos and whatnot, the media had a chance to get a glimpse of everything going on at the Nest.

“This is our last basketball season, we don’t want another three-win season again. We want to get the fans here and get the hype around basketball the way we had it for football,” said Chung.

West will tip its season off for a non-league matchup against North Providence on Friday night on the road.