The Central Cyclones were given a good push from the Riverview/Cornerstone Royals during Thursday night’s Moose Jaw High School Senior Boys Basketball League action.

The Cyclones eventually clamped down in the fourth quarter and rolled to an 80-49 win over the Royals.

“We just went out and played our game, focused on what we could control, worked hard and played good D,” said Central senior guard Ryan Reidy, who had 18 points in the win for Central.

Cody Moore scored a game-high 22 points for Central, including nailing three three-pointers. Ethan Johnson chipped in with 14 points in the win for the Cyclones.

The game was low scoring in the opening quarter, with Central leading 18-5 after one and then extending that lead to 36-18 at halftime.

Riverview put up a good fight in the third quarter, more than doubling their point total with 21 in the frame, but Central turned it on with 25 points in the fourth quarter, while holding the Royals to just ten.

Reidy said when they started playing stronger defence is when they were able to really get going in the fourth quarter.

“That’s our main focus going into the end of the year is that we need to improve our defence because that leads into better offence,” said Reidy.  “We’re getting there, we still have a lot of work to do and we’ll get there eventually.”

The Royals were led by Riley Marshall in the loss as he poured in 19 points, while Kaleb Seida scored 17.

Seida left the game with 1:06 to play after going down hard while driving to the rim. He had to be helped off the court.

The win improves Central’s record to 8-1 on the year and sets up a first place showdown against the Peacock Toilers, who are also 8-1, on Feb. 28.

Riverview sits at 2-7 after the loss, which has them in a tie with Assiniboia for fourth place. The Royals will face third Vanier, who are 6-3, in their regular season finale on Feb. 28 as well.