The Central Cyclones were in control right from the start, but they weren’t able to find their groove until the second half on Tuesday.

Central eventually rolled to a 105-53 win over the Vanier Vikings in a battle of the Moose Jaw High School Senior Boys Basketball League’s top-two teams.

"We just stepped up the intensity and talking, everybody bought into that and then we just came together as a team and played more team defence," said Central senior Jaxon Brownell, who finished with a team-high 20 points in the win.

The win improves Central to a league-best 7-0 this season, while Vanier falls to 4-2 with their only two losses coming against the Cyclones.

Vanier guard Javan Panko said Central’s depth is hard to compete with for the full game, "When they go to their second lineup, they don’t really drop off in skill," he said. "I wouldn’t say we drop off in skill, but it’s hard to match their intensity when they’re going like that for a full 40 minutes."

Panko had a game-high 23 points in the loss for the Vikings. 

Vanier's Javan Panko is guarded closely by Central's Kyle Boughen during Tuesday's Cyclones' win over the Vikings. (Photo: Marc Smith)

Central opened up the game with a 27-13 lead after the first quarter, but Vanier put together a strong second quarter, holding the Cyclones to seven points to make it a 34-22 game at the break.

The Cyclones turned it on in the second half, locking down the Vikings defensively and capitalizing with plays at the other end of the court on offence.

"We really stepped it up on defence and that led into transition buckets, and then everyone just bought in on defence, just continued to work hard, persevered and it worked out," said Central senior Crozier Holmes. 

Riley Seaborn finished with 15 points for Central, Quinton Ross poured in 14 points, while Hardil Khubber posted 13 in the win.

In the girls’ game, the Central Cyclones secured a 54-35 win over the Vanier Spirits. The win improves Central to 5-2 this season, while Vanier drops to 1-5.

Kristie Johnstone led the Cyclones with 15 points in the win, while Katie Coulson had 13.

Out in Caronport, the B.C.A. Cougars pulled off a pair of wins over the Assiniboia Rockets. The Cougars won 69-35 in the girls’ game and 90-61 in the boys’ game.

The Cougar girls are now 4-2 this season, while the boys improve to 1-5. Assiniboia’s girls fall to 0-6 and the boys are now 1-5.