Central claims Moose Jaw boys basketball tourney title for first time in five years
The Central Cyclones were already off to a solid start in the Moose Jaw boys high school basketball league season before taking the court for the recent Moose Jaw Invitational. They’re off to an incredible start. The Cyclones won the tournament for the first time in five years, defeating the North Battleford Comprehensive Vikings 86-80 in the championship game. The victory capped a perfect weekend for the local squad as they downed the Yorkton Raiders 96-60 in the semifinal and took a 102-41 win over Regina Martin in their opening game.
“We’re really happy,” said Cyclones coach Ryan Boughen. “The first two games, I thought we played really well, Martin and Yorkton both had really good teams and played well, but the North Battleford game was a big one for us. We played them at the Saskatoon Centennial and they ran away with it in the fourth quarter, but that didn’t happen this time. They have a really good team.”
The win marked the latest step in the team’s progression, something Boughen feels will be key as the season progresses.
“We made some big strides defensively, we’ve always thought we can score, but being able to stop teams is important,” Boughen explained. “The final might have been a little interesting, but they’re a really good team and you have to play well to keep them under 80. So we were happy with that, absolutely.” Continuing their progress over the second half of the season will be key – and part and parcel of that development will come out of their battles in Moose Jaw league play.
“You only get better by playing good teams, and there are at least three teams that are really good in this league, so that helps all of us,” Boughen said. “We have some goals, and we’ve talked about lots of things, but our main goal is to get better all the time and we’re going to keep working toward that.” Cyclones 86, North Battleford 80 Kyle Boughen’s three-pointer with less than a minute to play proved to be the key points as Central avenged their defeat earlier in the season. Riley Seaborn led the Cyclones with 25 points while Jaxson Brownell added 24 and Kyle Boughen 20. Jaxson Bownell also pulled down 14 rebounds for his first double-double of the year.
Cyclones, 94 Yorkton 60 Okony Okak was Central’s top scorer in the semifinal with 15 points while Fharis Ebet added 12 and Kyle Boughen and Ethan Johnson had 11 each. Hardill Khubber pulled down eight rebounds.
Cyclones 102, Regina Martin 41 Central kick off the event with as solid a victory as possible with their commanding win over the Monarcks. Johnson led the Cyclones with 22 points while Seaborn and Brownell added 13 and 10 points respectfully. Brownell was named Tournament MVP and Riley Seaborn was named to the All-Star team.