The Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association senior basketball regular season came to a close this past week, and now the playoffs take centre stage.
The final days of competition saw a trio of girls contests, as the Peacock Toilers took a 57-51 victory over the Central Cyclones, the Vanier Spirits rolled to a 69-19 win over the Assiniboia Rockets and Lumsden took a 54-41 win over Assiniboia.
The game between Peacock and Vanier was closer than one would expect given the standings -- the Toilers capped their campaign at 7-1, Spirits at 3-5 -- but as has been the case throughout the season, anything can happen on any given night.
Sure enough, Central took an 11-10 lead out of the opening quarter and held a 29-24 edge at the half. You don’t put up a season with a single loss without a reason, though, and Peacock outscored Vanier 16-8 in the third quarter to take the lead for good.
Peacock’s balance was once again on display, as Jessica Selensky led the Toilers with 14 points, Hannah Miller scored 13, Devlynn McClung 12 and Mattaya Coupland 11. Ava Nichols was Central’s top scorer with 18 points -- including four three-pointers -- while Ellah Flanagan put up 17.
The contest between Vanier and Assiniboia saw Kate Waldenberger lead all scorers with 14 points, while Waverly Demassi had a 12-point night. Jessica Beaubien led the Rockets with six points.
Scorers were unavailable from the Assiniboia and Lumsden game.
Next are the playoffs, beginning with girls' action on Tuesday, Mar. 7 as fourth-place Central (3-5) hosts fifth-place Assiniboia (0-8), with tip-off at 5:50 p.m.
The winner of that game advances to the semifinals on Thursday, Mar. 9 and will face Peacock (7-1, 6:20 p.m.). The other semifinal has Lumsden (4-4) at Vanier (6-2, 6:20 p.m.).
The boy semifinal sees Vanier (0-6) at Peacock (4-2, 8 p.m.), with the winner there advancing to face Central in the city final on Tuesday, Mar. 14.
Both the girls and boys finals are at Sask Polytech, with the girls tittle match at 6:20 p.m. and boys championship at 8 p.m.
