MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- As time ran down in the fourth quarter of the SHSAA 4A girls' basketball bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon at Sask Polytech, it all of a sudden looked like fans were going to be in for an interesting finish.
Despite trailing by 15 to 17 points much of the second half, the Central Cyclones had battled back to within 10 against the Peacock Toilers with 2:41 to play, meaning there was a lot of time for things to get very, very dramatic.
As it turns out, the Toilers were having none of it.
Peacock stiffened on defence and answered Central shot for shot the rest of the way, eventually going on to a 63-51 victory to take third place in the province.
It was an amazing finish for two teams that few would have expected to be in their position at the start of the season, but a steady run of improvement for both crews led to the one-game showdown for a provincial medal on Saturday.
“We worked really hard all season and we definitely went through some ups and downs, but in the end we wanted it more and just put our heart into it,” said Peacock Grade 11 Devlynn McClung, who led all scorers with an impressive 31 points. “Every practice we were giving it our all and we just wanted to show that we deserved it, especially being a young team and only three of us returning. It’s big for us to get third place.”
Peacock led essentially from start to finish, taking a 13-9 lead out of the first quarter and holding a 28-22 edge at the half.
Seeing her troops try to make a game of it late despite trailing the whole contest was a source of pride for Central coach Tanya McLean, who also saw wholesale improvement from her club throughout the season.
“That’s the thing, we didn’t give up, we kept fighting and we got it back to 10 with three minutes left but just couldn’t quite finish it,” she said. “We were in foul trouble with (Addison Simpson) on the bench and defensively we weren’t quite where we needed to be, but that’s just how it happens. Peacock played well, too, they shot really well and did a great job.
“But I’m proud of the girls, they played hard and made it interesting, it was a good game.”
Interestingly enough, both teams find themselves in similar situations as they each lose only two seniors, meaning the majority of their crews will be back next season and could possibly end up in the exact same game -- or even one higher.
“This is our team next year, so the fact we did so well this year and have improved so much shows just how good we might be next year and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” McClung said.
Simpson was Central’s top scorer with 17 points, while Lucy McLean picked up nine. Taylor Craik added eight for Peacock.
