Cyclones Use Size And Long Bench To Defeat Toilers

Photos and story by Robert Thomas

Dominant starters that weren’t afraid to push around their size saw the Central Cyclones senior girls basketball team defeat the Peacock Toilers 63 - 43 on Tuesday evening.

The win helps maintain the Cyclones unbeaten record to to 2 - 0 while the Toilers fall to 0 - 2 as the season takes its Christmas break.

As part of the “Pack The Gym Night” the Cyclones had a moderate overflow crowd for the game.

The First Quarter saw the Cyclones take an 18 - 10 lead over the Toilers.

The Cyclones starting roster were able to move the ball up the court efficiently.

Standouts in moving the ball up court were Ellah Flanagan, Shaylan Constable and Addie Simpson.

The push for baskets, battling for rebounds and layups was taken on by the Cyclones Mykenzie Shymko.

The Second Quarter saw the Cyclones take a 36 - 18 lead over the Toilers at the ten minute break.

The Third Quarter saw the Cyclones take a 50 - 35 lead over the Toilers.

The Final Score was Cyclones 63 and the Toilers 43.

For the Toilers - who are already running a short bench - the loss of two players to injuries plus fouls taken by key players were a major factor in their game.

Fatigue.

“I think we had kind of a busy last two weeks and we are a bit tired. We have a couple of injuries that would really help us be a bit better this time (out),” grade twelve player Mattaya Coupland said.

“We got into a bit of a foul trouble in the first half so some of our biggest scorers couldn’t be out on the floor for a bit so it all added up,” Coupland said.

The Christmas break is welcomed she said to allow the team to get healthy.

“I think next time we will give them more of a run for their money after Christmas when we get all of our players back,” she said.

Due to the short bench and foul problems Coupland saw herself playing a large portion of the game where her fatigue was obvious at times.

“I worked hard and that is all that matters.”

Asked about the Toilers’ practise MJ Independent attended and how the team was working towards executing what was being taught there she said they need more practice.

“I’m looking forward to having maybe more plays to be run and just execute it better at games. Obviously good practices make better games. I’m looking forward to that,” Coupland said.

Editor’s Note - we had a number of Peacock girls wanting to do interviews so it’s their game and their league so why not. Variety helps spice things up.

The Toilers are a work in progress head co-coach Brendan Fedoski said.

“We’re always working. It’s early in the season yet. We came up through two really tough tournaments. We haven’t had a really good hard practice in a couple of weeks. So we’re looking forward towards a little bit of a break here,” Fedoski said.

“We are stuck with three injuries this week so this break is much needed,” he said.

Asked about how the Cyclones seemed like a well oiled machine head coach Tanya McLean said things went well but the team could not be complacent.

“(Everything went well) with how we played tonight for sure but there is always things to work on,” McLean said, adding “it’s great to get a win against Peacock always.”

“We have a size advantage for sure which we tried to hone in on. There was maybe some turnovers we did not need to have I’m happy,” she said.

Asked about the play by Ellah Flanagan, Shaylan Constable and Addie Simpson McLean said it went further than that.

“We have got a good team…our starting five had a good game. We did a good job tonight.”

While the Toilers may need the time afforded by the Christmas break to get healthy McLean said the break was not welcomed by the Cyclones quite as much.

“We’ll take some time to do some practicing,” she said.

Fouls remain a problematic sore point for the Cyclones, she said.