For the first time this season, the Toilers were tested, but they passed those tests on their way to the title at the annual local tournament, beating the Prince Albert St Mary Marauders, 84-77, in the final.
The semifinal against Weyburn and the final against the Marauders were both tight games that forced the powerful Peacock team to face situations that they haven't faced yet this season as they've cruised to comfortable wins in the majority of their games.
“We found a way, gutted some things and we executed when we had to, came up with some big buckets and we got some stops,” said Bryan Adams, Peacock head coach. “The tournament had some really good teams, great competition, great games that went down to the last fifteen seconds, so we can't ask for much more.”
The Toilers were looking for that kind of test heading into the tournament after posting a 4-0 so far in league play.
“These two games were the only time that we've been pushed all year and how do we respond when we're pushed and if you're never in these games, you don't know,” said Adams. “I'd rather have them in January than March.”
This weekend's win was Peacock's first win at the tournament – which they host annually with the Central Cyclones – since 2010. The experience gained could be invaluable going forward in the season.
“It's still early in the year,” said Adams. “All these teams there's going to be growing and changes. We've got a lot of improving like the other teams too and these games get you to that spot where you know what you need to work on.”
Peacock advanced to the final with a narrow 79-76 win over the Weyburn Eagles in a back-and-forth contest that was tied 40-40 going into halftime. Prince Albert St Mary got into the final by handling Central 83-55.
The final was another tight game for the Toilers as the two sides played a very even first quarter, but Peacock got stronger as that frame went on and led 25-15 at the break. The Toilers went cold from the floor in the second quarter, but Ryder Epoch took over in the final minute, scoring three straight baskets to make sure Peacock took a 44-43 lead into halftime.
Peacock continued to struggle with their inside shooting and offensive rebounds in the third quarter and that allowed the Marauders to charge in front 66-63 by the end of the frame, meaning Peacock would have some work to do in the fourth.
The Toilers continued to get stronger as the fourth quarter went on and were eventually able to pull away in the end for the 84-77 win, despite a late push from Prince Albert.
Finally playing some tight games is a good lesson learned for the Toilers as they continued to polish their game early in the season.
“We've got to take a lot away from this because we haven't had very many (close games),” said Epoch, who scored a game-high 30 points in the final for Peacock. “Just late game situations, you learn how to handle the ball and what to do with time management and you just make smart choices in the end.
“They're fun, this year we've only had like one really tight game, and they're a lot more fun when they're tight and it's actually like a nice game, a challenge, it's fun.”
Central Learns In Fourth Place Finish
The Central Cyclones weren't able to defend their back-to-back titles at the tournament, falling to Prince Albert St. Mary in the semifinal. They would eventually finish in fourth place after a thrilling third place game loss to the Weyburn Eagles, falling 90-83 in double overtime.
“That was a great game to play,” said Leigh Pethick, Central head coach. “The way Weyburn played Peacock, I was happy with our result here. We were in the game, we had two chances to win it, we were up both in regulation and the first overtime. You'd like to win, but I'm happy with our effort.”
The Cyclones looked like they had the win sealed up at the end of the first overtime, but Weyburn scored four points in the final seven seconds to force the second extra period. The Eagles sunk two free throws and then proceeded to steal the inbound pass and sink a buzzer beating layup to keep the game going.
Pethick said that the loss comes down to them not having much experience in close games and still learning how to handle those situations.
“We've either been blown out or blowing teams out this year, we haven't been in a close game yet,” he said. “This will be good now, it's better now than in a playoff situation. It stings, but hopefully the guys will learn from it.”
The fact that the Cyclones did end up losing the game in the end might actually help them more going forward than if they would have come back in the second overtime and won.
“We'll try to go through more of those scenarios in practice and now I have something to build off,” said Pethick. “I can say, 'Remember we lost this game because we weren't focused and we didn't execute', so it will be good.”
Both local teams will try to build off the game as they get set to battle in another showdown between the Moose Jaw League's top two teams coming up on Tuesday. They tip off at Central at 8:00pm.
Sat, Apr 20, 8:15 AM
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