With the second half of the Moose Jaw High Schools Athletic Association basketball season now underway, the Central Cyclones are hoping things will just keep on keeping on for their undefeated senior boys crew.
And that’s not undefeated just in league play, that’s throughout the province, after winning their own tournament this past weekend at Central.
Combined with the Cyclones’ 116-42 victory over the Vanier Vikings in league action on Tuesday night, Central is now 10-0 in competition in Saskatchewan -- including a 4-0 mark in the local league -- as things get closer and closer to March and Hoopla.
“The kids are working hard and putting the effort in and I just see them getting better and better,” said Cyclones head coach Barry Seaborn. “That’s what you want to see at this time of the season and things have been going really well.”
The tournament win proved extra valuable in that Central now has a better idea of who their potential provincial championship contenders might be, with the Melfort Comets giving the Cyclones a good test right off the hop.
Melfort actually led 29-16 after the first quarter, but Central was able to catch up and pull away as the game progressed and went on to a 90-75 win.
“They shoot the ball really well and they’re big and athletic, so they’re a problem,” Seaborn said. “But we were able to get a good look at them and see how they play and develop a gameplan to counteract how they play, so it’s always important to see teams like that in tournaments.”
Central won their semifinal 93-43 over Yorkton before finishing things off with a 104-80 win over Prince Albert Carlton.
It was all a far cry from their previous tournament outing at the Jasper Place REB Invitational in mid-December, a massive event featuring some of the top teams in Alberta.
Central ended up taking three straight losses at the tournament, giving up more than 100 points each game.
“They were all pretty good basketball teams, but it’s just a different world up there,” Seaborn said. “Just the size and athleticism and it seems like everyone can shoot. It was a bit of an eye-opener for the kids, seeing those kinds of a teams, and it gives us something to aim for.”
The Cyclones were also back in action in league play on Tuesday night, rolling to a 116-42 win over the Vanier Vikings (0-4).
Sam Beckman led the Cyclones with 18 points, while Chase Seaborn scored 16, Javin Boynton 14 and Mason Williams 13.
All in all, the kind of balanced attack Central will be looking for the rest of the season.
“It was nice to see some of the players that come off the bench have good games,” Seaborn said. “Three of those four don’t start and they were our high scorers, and we were talking after the game, we’d rather have everyone score 10-15 points than one or two, that was our goal and it worked out pretty well. We want those guys to get better and eventually start and that’s our goal.”
Jared Mana led Vanier with 19 points, Danielle Guerzon added eight.
In girls league action, the Vanier Spirits improved to 3-1 thanks to an 88-26 win over the Assiniboia Rockets. Kate Waldenberger and Waverley Demassi each had 14 points for Vanier, while Cadey Olson and Ava Kindiak picked up 12 apiece. Kayley Beaubien topped Assiniboia with six.
No score was reported from the game between the Lumsden and Central girls, and the boys and girls games between Peacock and Swift Current were both postponed due to weather.
Next league action is on Tuesday, Jan, 16 and will see Peacock at Vanier (boys 6:20 p.m., girls 8 p.m.), Swift Current at Lumsden (boys 5:45 p.m., girls 4 p.m.) and Assiniboia at Central in girls action (5:50 p.m.).
