The Peacock Toilers are off to exactly the start they were hoping for as they aim to defend their Moose Jaw High Schools Athletic Association high school boys basketball championship.
Peacock improved to 2-0 through the first few weeks of the season thanks to a 78-42 victory over the Lumsden Devils at Peacock on Tuesday night -- a victory that wasn’t without its share of drama early on.
The two teams ended up in a defensive battle to get things going, with the result a 10-10 draw through the opening 10 minutes. The Toilers got things going after the break, though, outscoring Lumsden 22-10 in the second quarter to take a 32-20 lead.
The Devils didn’t go quietly and clawed their way back to within 12 heading into the final quarter, but a 28-4 surge to close out the game gave Peacock their relatively comfortable win.
Kai Houghton led all scorers with 19 points, while Owen Varjassy had 12 and Teagan Gagnon knocked down 11. Ben Pollack had 15 points to pace Lumsden, Jake Flichel added eight.
The Central Cyclones kept pace with Peacock and also improved to 2-0 thanks to a 78-42 victory over the Colts in Swift Current.
Chase Seaborn led Central with 26 points, while Max Simmons put back 13. Duncan Gevana led Swift Current with 20, Nafyad Eticha dropped eight.
In girls league action, the Peacock Toilers kept pace with the league leaders thanks to an 82-46 win over the Assiniboia Rockets at Peacock.
Mattaya Coupland led the Toilers with 18 points, all in the first half, while Devlynn McClung contributed 16 to go along with 12 from Taylor Craik and 11 from Jakson McAuley.
Peacock got off to a fantastic start with 30 points in the first quarter and a 14-point lead before holding a 44-30 lead at halftime.
Madeleine Simonson led Assiniboia with 17 points.
The girls game between the Vanier Spirits and Lumsden Angels in Lumsden was postponed, and no score was reported from the game between the Swift Current and Central girls.
The final games of the pre-Christmas schedule will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 19 and will see Peacock at Central (girls 6:20 p.m., boys 8 p.m.) along with the Swift Current girls at Vanier (5:50 p.m.), Assinboia girls at Lumsden (6:40 p.m.) and Vanier boys at Lumsden (5 p.m.).
