Cyclones Catch Friendly Breeze In Final Minutes Win

On paper they shouldn’t have been there but the Peacock Toilers Senior Girls basketball team held steady with the Central Cyclones.

The underrated Toilers were tighter than wallpaper to the Cyclones on Tuesday evening with a stingy defence coming up time and again.

But in the last part of the fourth quarter the Toilers defence buckled just enough to allow the Central Cyclones a 50 - 44 victory.

The Toilers shone in the opening part of the game with the first quarter score being Toilers 14 and Cyclones 11.

The Toilers were down into the second quarter but managed to battle back and end up with a four point lead. The score at halftime was Toilers 22 and Cyclones 18.

The third quarter saw the Toilers increase their lead to six points. The score was Toilers 40 and Cyclones 34.

The fourth quarter saw the offence for the Toilers run out of gas. The Cyclones managed to break the tired opponent’s defence managing to overtake the Toilers with four minutes left in the game.

The final score was Cyclones 50 and Toilers 44.

“I think we came out very strong and everything was going very well but it’s like a very typical thing for us and lose our moment. It’s something we have to work on,” Berlin Egan a player with the Peacock Toilers said.

Egan gave the post game interview on behalf of the team. The team encourages players to fully participate and giving post game interviews is part of that initiative.

“Overall I think we had a very good game compared to the last game we had against them.”

In their last meeting on December 16th the Cyclones won 63 - 29 over the Toilers.

Asked if she felt if Tuesday evening’s outing was the Toilers’ best game so far Egan said it was right up there.

“I would say it’s one of them. We’ve had a couple of good ones but this one was very impressive,” she said.

Asked about the collapse in the fourth quarter Egan said it wasn’t one play that lost the game.

“It was like everyone started to get into their heads (that you can’t win). Once you get that in your head it’s very difficult to get out of.”

The low points leading in the first three quarters had a mixed reaction emotional impact on the team, she said.

“It puts a lot of pressure on you but you know you are going to learn from it. It was intense but you know it was fun. It was back and forth. It’s basketball and you just have to love it.”

Despite the loss Egan described the Toilers’ morale as upbeat.

“Before we came into the game we had three main focuses…we did them very well. Everyone was happy with the results. We were kind of like trying to cheer each other on. It was good,” Egan said.

“That was a close one. It was a close one,” Central Cyclones head coach Tanya MacLean said.

“We dug in in the fourth (quarter) but we need to play the game like we did in the fourth quarter,” MacLean said.

She said she was not surprised by how strong the Toilers came out of the blocks.

“We expected them to be much more improved from the last time we played them. And they were. They’re a good team and we need to execute better and box out and make more baskets.”

Central’s attempts to properly employ the press was often broken by the Toilers passing strong and then dribbling fast down court to avoid traps. Limitations on the bench also limited a continual press.

“We’re battling. We’ve got hurt people. We’ve got sick people. Which is no excuse. Everybody has got hurt and sick people but we definitely weren’t at our full capacity tonight,” she said.

“Peacock is good. It was a good battle and we dug in and made the baskets in the end when we needed to.”

She said the game’s outcome did not come down to a single play or misstep.

“No game is ever won on a single play unless it is the final play of the game,” MacLean said, adding “I think there are things we should improve on. Peacock did a lot of good things. We did a lot of good things in the fourth (quarter). Like I said we need to play the entire game like we did in the fourth quarter.”