It’s been a first half to remember for the Moose Jaw Warriors, who finished off their pre-Christmas schedule with a 7-4 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night.

The Warriors head into the break with the best record in the Western Hockey League at 27-6-1-1.  They hold a four-point lead on the Swift Current Broncos for first place in the East Division, Eastern Conference and overall in the league.

Saturday’s game saw the Warriors provide the kind of response that you want to see out of a top team. After playing “their worst game of the year” on Friday to snap their six-game winning streak, Moose Jaw came back with a complete effort against a tough Wheat Kings’ team.

“We were obviously disappointed with (Friday)’s effort and we stepped up our game majorly tonight, that was exactly how we wanted to go out and we’re going to come back even stronger in the second half,” said 20-year-old forward Jayden Halbgewachs.

“Everyone was going tonight, all the older guys stepped up and that’s how we’ve got to win, the older guys have to lead by example and we did that tonight.”

Halbgewachs scored twice in Saturday’s win, which moved into a tie for first place in the league with 35 goals in 35 games to start the year. After scoring 50 goals last season, Halbgewachs is well on his way to topping that mark again this season.

He deflected the credit to his teammates for the big first half.

“It’s nice to score goals like that, but it doesn’t come without success by the team and my linemates helping me out, so I’m pretty proud, but need to keep getting better and better,” said Halbgewachs.

Newly acquired forward Vince Loschiavo scored twice on Saturday as well, giving him three goals in three games since joining the Warriors.

After spending much of the first half with the Kootenay Ice, who are fighting for a playoff spot, Loschiavo said it’s exciting to be heading into the break on the top team in the league.

“To be on a winning team like this, I couldn’t be happier to be here and our main focus is to keep this going into the second half,” said Loschiavo.

Halbgewachs said the team will be focused on resting up and returning from their nine-day break at 100-percent next week.

“Lots of guys are banged up so the proper rest is going to be key for us and to come back in the second half is going to be huge for us,” he said.

The Warriors enter the break with the most wins in the league (27), the most goals (159), the sixth-lowest goals against (106), the sixth ranked power play (26.2%) and the sixth ranked penalty kill (81.6%).

Brayden Burke is third in the league in scoring after putting together a five-point night on Saturday. He has 16 goals and 64 points in 33 games, which is seven back of Swift Current’s Aleksi Heponiemi for top spot.

Halbgewachs is fifth in the scoring race with 35 goals and 59 points in 35 games, while Justin Almeida is tied for 13th with 47 points and Tanner Jeannot also cracked the top-20 in the first half, sitting tied for 16th with 46 points.

Goalie Brody Willms is second in the league with 20 wins and he sits fifth with a 3.06 goals against average. His 0.903 save percentage is ninth among starters.

The Warriors will return with four big games in five nights next week. They face the Swift Current Broncos, who trail Moose Jaw by four points for top spot, in a home-and-home on Dec. 27 in Swift Current and Dec. 28 at Mosaic Place.

That’s followed by a home-and-home against Brandon, who sit seven points back of the Warriors. The first half goes in Brandon on Dec. 30 and that’s followed by a New Year’s Eve showdown at Mosaic Place.