Central leading scorer Diana Lumbala defends against Caronport's Leah Hundeby during Tuesday's game.

There's always a certain amount of rust for teams when coming off the Christmas break.  The Central Cyclones and Caronport Cougars were no different on Tuesday night as they returned to the court in the High School Senior Girls Basketball League.

The Cyclones might not have been on top of their game, but they did enough to win, beating the Cougars 56-32.

“I took us a long time to find our groove and come together and start playing as a team,” said Jocelyn Wigmore, Central head coach.  “The first half was definitely scrappy.”

The two teams were deadlocked at 8-8 after the first quarter.  They continued to play a tight game in the second quarter, but the Cyclones were a bit more effective and opened up a 22-14 lead at the halftime break.

The second half was still rough for both sides, but Central found a way to pull away from the Cougars, scoring 34 second half points in the win.

“I think we have a lot more to show and we're getting there,” said Wigmore.  “We've had some really great practices and have been working on some stuff and we just want to see that transfer into games.”

Layups were one of the key things that the Cyclones had been working on in practice and that didn't necessarily transfer over to the game as they missed a number of easy baskets under the rim.

“They're driving to the net and not focusing on what they need to do,” said Wigmore.  “They're in their heads a little bit, that's something that we talked about after the game, is being mentally focused and mentally in the game.”

For Caronport, it was a matter of not being ready to play, according to their coach Leigh Wolverton.

“We just weren't ready for this game at all,” he said.  “I don't know what else to say.  We didn't shoot well, we didn't do anything well.”

The Cougars were without their captain, Lauren Janzen, who was stuck in Miami due to the weather conditions in the United States, but Wolverton didn't think that would have mattered in the game.  He does see his team improving though and hopes they can put this game behind them as quickly as possible.

“We've got some things that we're going to be working on and I think we'll be seeing a different team as February comes around and playoff start to come around,” said Wolverton.  “There's so much potential on these girls, but lots to work on.”

Diana Lumbala led Central in the win, picking up 19 points, while Paige Newans chipped in with nine and Gabby Lorge added eight.  Marisa Hartman was Caronport's top scorer with nine in the loss.

The win improves Central's record to 3-1 on the year and breaks a tie with Caronport, who drop to 2-2.  The Cougars will be back in action on Thursday when they host the Assiniboia Rockets and Central's next action is next Tuesday when they battle Peacock.

The Toilers kept their perfect record in tact on Tuesday night, beating the Vanier Spirits 74-20.  Macaela Crone paced the Toilers attack in the win with 31 points.  They're now 3-0 on the year and tied with Central for first place.