After allowing the Falcons to hit six 3-pointers in the first half because the Oakers rotated far too slowly in both the 2-3 and 3-2 zone defenses, Coventry simply locked down on the Falcons. Whether it was Willard forcing a tough shot, or Dan Struebing or Adam Cloutier pulling down a defensive rebound, the Oakers allowed West to make one field goal in the first 9 minutes, 24 seconds of the second half.

It’s that kind of lockdown defense that head coach Bill Tarvis knows his team will need to play if the Oakers are to earn a II-South title a year after topping II-Central.

“The big thing is if you give 14, 16, or 18 points a half, you’re going to win a lot of games,” Tarvis said after his team defeated the Falcons 50-42. “Defense, these guys knew it, defense is all we preach. When we do practice, that’s another thing, we tell them to go in the paint and put a body on people.

“Because, if we win the battle on the defensive boards, you’re on your way to a good game.”

The biggest difference between the Oaker team last year which went to the Division II semifinals and this year’s team is the presence of Willard. No longer is the 6-foot, 8-inch center a secondary option, Willard is now one of the team’s go-to players.

Last night, Willard stayed out of foul trouble and he led the team, along with junior swingman Jon Ruest and Cloutier, with 10 points. Willard also had seven rebounds and he altered countless shots West’s Kevin Hayes and Joe Fallon attempted.

“Lat year foul trouble was a problem for me, it’s definitely a goal to stay on the court,” Willard said. “I think our inside game is better than in most years past. I’ve played here for three years and we have a good low-post game. We can go to anyone down low and they can score.”

Willard started last night’s game in the frontcourt with DiMicco and Cloutier, but it was Struebing (eight points) who was the team’s sixth man and provided the Oakers with a spark when they were struggling to find some consistency on offense and defense.

Struebing was needed to come to his team’s rescue in the first half because the Oakers simply couldn’t defend the perimeter. Cranston West’s Gian Papa finished with a game-high 20 points, but 18 of those points came on six 3-pointers. For the game, the Falcons knocked down nine 3-pointers, while Dipaola accounted for his team’s only score behind the arc.

“Struebing did exactly what we want him to do,” Tarvis said. “What you saw tonight is what you’re going to see from him for the rest of the season. He’s going to come off the bench, he’s going to come in for Willard or Cloutier and he’s going to give us a spark.”

But, the Oakers weren’t at full strength because Finnegan, the team’s long-distance specialist, hurt an ankle in practice and didn’t play last night. That gave Reust an opportunity to start and the junior took his chance by scoring 10 points and pulling down six rebounds.

Finnegan’s absence also allowed freshman Garrett Douglass to get his first chance to play a varsity game. Douglass came into the game with 7:35 left in the second half and his team up 13 points. Douglass missed a 3-pointer, but he assisted on a Ruest basket to earn his first mark in the team’s scorebook.

Tarvis, because the season is still so young, used a bunch of players including Brad Auger, but two players who played the entire game were DiMicco and Dipaola. DiMicco didn’t have his best shooting night, but he still had seven rebounds and six assists. Dipaola, the team’s point guard, had nine points and three assists.

“Our identity is our teamwork,” DiMicco said. ‘We don’t have one player who does everything, and we haven’t for the last couple of years. Tonight, we locked them up on defense and on offense it was a team effort.”

Papa made the game interesting late in the second half when he scored five consecutive points to cut the Coventry lead to 44-40, but Cloutier scored a bucket and Ruest hit a pair of free throws to close the game out.

The win doesn’t do anything for the Oakers when it comes playoff time, but Tarvis said he wanted to win the game to make sure the rest of Division II knew what the Oakers are hoping to do this season.

“Are we where we want to be? No,” Tarvis said. “When we get into March, we want to be clicking on all cylinders. If we are an eight-cylinder car, we’re clicking on six, right now. You can’t start off a season better than this.

“You know what our aspirations are. If we’re going to go to the Ryan Center, we’re going to have to work hard like we did tonight in the second half. We’re not just thinking playoffs, we’re thinking all the way.”

Coventry 50 Cranston West 42

(At Cranston West)

COVENTRY (50) DiMicco 1 1-4 3, Dipaola 3 2-2 9, Ruest 3 4-6 10, Struebing 4 0-0 8, Cloutier 5 0-0 10, Willard 5 0-0 10, Totals 21 7-12 50

CRANSTON WEST (42) Smith 1 0-0 3, Grosso 3 1-4 8, Morgan 3 0-0 7, Papa 7 0-0 20, Fallon 1 0-0 2, Hayes 0 2-2 2, Totals 15 3-6 42.

3-pointers: C; Dipaola. CW; Papa 6, Smith, Grosso, Morgan.

Halftime: 26-26.    

By BRANDEN MELLO

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CRANSTON — If the Coventry High boys’ basketball team is to reach its ultimate goal and play at the Ryan Center on March 14, they aren’t going to do so because of the offensive skills of Trevor DiMicco, Brandon Dipaola, Matt Willard or Sean Finnegan.

The only way the Oakers make a deep run into the Division II playoffs is by playing defense, the sort of defense the Oakers played against Division I Cranston West in the opening eight minutes in the second half of their contest Friday night.