Central, Vanier wins create logjam at top of boys and girls senior basketball standings

With the start of the Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association’s senior boys’ and girls’ basketball season entering the final month of the regular season, one thing has become very clear.

Whoever gets hot at just the right time will likely walk away with their respective league championships and based on how things played out on Tuesday night it’s unclear who those teams will be.

The Central Cyclones earned an 81-61 win over the Peacock Toilers in the boys’ league, while the Vanier Spirits achieved a 70-47 win over Peacock and defeated Central Assiniboia 59-25 in the girls’ league.

The lone boys’ league game provided another example of how things went back and forth between the two teams 3-1 early on, not just in aggregate results but in the games themselves.

Central wasted little time getting things going, taking a 20-8 lead in the first 10 minutes. The Toilers — who gave the Cyclones their only loss of the season on Dec. 13 — didn’t go easy on themselves, however, beating Central 25-21 in the third quarter and 16-14 in the third to advance to the finals frame trailing by six.

There would be no comeback, however, as the Cyclones would ramp up the pressure in the fourth quarter and move on to their 20-point win.

Gerritt Gulutzan led Central with 23 points, while Tommy Vincent had 20 and Earl Lamsen had 17 points. Peacock’s top scorers were Kai Houghton with 22 points, Mac Simpson with 16 and Nathan McDougall with 13.

In the girls’ league, the Spirits put together one of their best games of the season to give the Toilers their first loss and a 3-1 draw to take first place. Vanier led by just a pair after the first quarter but had extended his lead to 11 by halftime and was leading by nine heading into the fourth.

Kate Waldenberger led the Spirits with 21 points, while Waverley Demassi had 19 points and Ava Kindiak added 10 points. Devlynn McClung continued her solid 10th grade season with 21 points while Hannah Miller fielded 20 for the Toilers.

The Cyclones win over Assiniboia was their second of the season, and Central improved to 2-3 while the Rockets fell to 0-4. Ava Nichols amassed 16 points to lead the Cyclones while Molly McLean scored 13 points and Addy Simpson added 10 points. Kayley Beaubien and Jenna Gronsdahl each scored seven points for Assiniboia.

Girls’ League action resumes on Wednesday night when Peacock travels to Lumsden, with tip-off at 5:50pm