Central Senior Boys Off To Hoopla

They were the favourites but they didn’t take it lightly as the Central Cyclones senior boys basketball team defeated the Melville Cobras 73 - 32 on Saturday afternoon.

The victory punched the Cyclones’ ticket to defend their provincial 4A championship at Hoopla in Moose Jaw next week.

Hoopla, the provincial high school championship tournament, runs March 26 - 28 with Moose Jaw hosting the event this year.

Central Cyclones senior boys team - MJ Independent photo

Central Cyclones head coach Cris Temple said the team accomplished their goals in the game.

“Today’s game we handled our business and we did what we came to accomplish. So now we’re on to Hoopla we’re on to the next game,” Temple said.

Despite the seemingly easy win for the Cyclones it didn’t go 100 percent as planned.

“To be honest I think we came out a little bit sloppy, a little bit slow at the start of the game. But then we figured it out and started playing our game,” he said.

The Cyclones had some foul problems but the Cobras failed to fully capitalize on them. Temple was philosophical about it.

“That’s something you are always worried about. You try to teach these kids not to take unnecessary fouls at this stage of the game. Sometimes you cannot control things on how the. Alls are going to be made so I guess you don’t want to be taking the unnecessary ones.”

Despite the minor hiccups confidence remains high for the Cyclones.

“We’re feeling good. We’re feeling confident. We’re going to be ready for who our next opponent is and go out and try to win the next game” Temple said.

Being number one seed and returning provincial champion the Cyclones gave a target on their backs as opponents work hard for a victory. It’s something the team is cognizant of.

“You should if you’re number one you should always have that target on your back. And we know what that feels like and we’re ready for it. We honestly don’t think about it we show up and we take everybody seriously and we don’t ever take anybody for granted,” he said.

Despite their arguably stellar season the team still has things to work on before Hoopla less than a week off.

“(We have to work on a) few things here and there. I don’t want to give away too much but we’ll definitely be working our butts off at practice,” Temple said.

He said he hopes the community supports the Hoopla tournament.

“Come on out and support us. Come out and support basketball. Come out and support the community and you’ll see some great basketball and high school athletics.”

The Scoresheet