It was good to be the favourite in the Moose Jaw high school basketball league semifinals on Tuesday night.
Both teams with the better regular-season record ended up victorious and booked their spots in the title games next week, as the Peacock Toilers took a 56-41 victory over the Vanier Vikings in boys action and the Central Cyclones defeated the Toilers 67-43 in the girls semi.
Both games featuring out-of-town teams -- Notre Dame at Central boys and Lumsden at Vanier girls -- were postponed to inclement weather, with the boys game now taking place on 8 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 10 at Central and girls game at 6 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 11 at Vanier.
A solid start was key for the Toilers (6-2) in the boys' semi at Peacock, as they took a 16-9 lead out of the first quarter and built a 31-19 lead at half, but Vanier (4-4) wouldn’t go quietly. By the time the third quarter was in the books, the Vikings had clawed their way back within six, but Peacock regained their shooting touch as the game played out, pulling away with a 16-8 run over the final 10 minutes.
Bryce Baumann and Mac Simpson led all scorers with 14 points each for Peacock, Eric Meili had a 13-point outing for the Vikings.
Things weren’t as close in the girls' contest, as the Cyclones (7-1) took an early lead and never looked back against the Toilers (3-5).
Central did almost all of their damage in the second quarter, too, as after building a 12-point lead through the first 10 minutes, the Cyclones would pour in 26 points to build a 43-15 halftime edge.
Lind-Z Detubio and Malea Kletzel each had 13-point showings for Central, Lily Matthies added 10. Ella Muchowski had nine points to pace Peacock.
Both city finals are slated for Tuesday, Mar. 15, with the time and venue to be decided.
