The Central Cyclones returned from the Christmas break with a bang over the weekend.

For the first time in five years, the Cyclones came out on top at their home tournament, beating the North Battleford Comp. Vikings, 86-80, in the final of the 57th annual Moose Jaw Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament.

“The kids were real happy, they played really well,” said Central head coach Ryan Boughen.

This was the second meeting between these two schools in the championship game of a tournament with North Battleford edging Central in early December at the Saskatoon Centennial Classic.

Boughen said it’s a big confidence boost for the team to get one back on the Vikings, “It was a good measuring stick for us to see how much we’ve gotten better,” he said. “Kids played really well, it was a close game, really tight at the end and I’m glad we pulled it out.”

The final was a tight game as the score would suggest. The difference ended up being a deep three-pointer from Kyle Boughen with under a minute to go that gave Central some breathing room.

Riley Seaborn led the charge for the Cyclones in the final, scoring 25 points, while Jaxson Browned added 24 points and 14 rebounds. Boughen chipped in with 20 points.

“(The Vikings) are an interesting team because four of their five starters shoot the ball really well, so one of our goals was to get out and contest shots and that helped, but they still scored 80,” said Boughen. “We knew we needed to be pretty effective offensively and we put in 86, so the game plan worked.

“It was just a really good game for us, good way to end the tournament.” 

The Cyclones went undefeated on the weekend.

They beat Regina Martin, 102-41, in their opening game on Friday. Ethan Johnson led the Cyclones with 22 points in the win, while Seaborn and Brownell added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Central would follow that up with a 94-60 win over Yorkton in the semi-finals on Saturday.  Okony Okak led the Cyclones with 15 points in the win, while Fharis Ebet added 12, and Boughen and Johnson had 11 each.

Boughen said this weekend was good way to gauge how they improved over the two-week Christmas break.

“I thought we played excellent all weekend,” said Boughen. “This was a good test to see if we actually got better over Christmas (by practicing during the break) and after those three games, it’s apparent that we did and I’m glad that we got there.”

The Cyclones won’t be able to build off their tournament win until next week. They head to Assiniboia next Tuesday in their return to league play.

The Moose Jaw High School Senior Basketball League is back on the court this Tuesday for four games.

The Vanier Vikings and Spirits host the Peacock Toilers for a boys game at 6:20 p.m. and a girls game at 8 p.m. Also, the Assiniboia Rockets head out to Caronport to battle the Cougars, the boys tip-off at 5:35 p.m. and the girls hit the court at 7:15 p.m.