Back-to-back losses in the provincial final have the Central Cyclones determined heading into Hoopla 2019 this weekend in Saskatoon.

"Those two losses were good for us, they've motivated us this year," said Central senior Ethan Johnson. "There's a whole different energy this year than there were the last two years, those two losses definitely motivated us to work harder in practice on both sides of the floor."

The Cyclones dominated their way through the Moose Jaw High School Basketball League this season, going 10-0 on their way to a fourth straight league title and outscoring the opposition by 608 points in the regular season.

They kept the pedal down this past weekend during the regional championship, cruising past La Loche and Saskatoon Bedford Road by a combined score of 247-84.

As they head to Hoopla again this year, the top-ranked Cyclones' biggest opponent might be themselves, but they're working to make sure that they stay focused heading into the provincial championship.

"We realize now that you need to work really hard to get it done," said Johnson. "We need to leave everything on the floor, that wasn't really the mentality for some of us the last two years, but now it definitely is."

"We can't underestimate people and we've got to come out hard," added Senior Guard Kyle Boughen. "Two years ago, we came out soft and not ready, and last year, we beat Weyburn twice prior and we came out not prepared and they got us back for that."

The Cyclones will square off with the North Battleford John Paul II Crusaders in the provincial semi-final on Friday afternoon. The other semi-final has two-time defending champion Weyburn going up against Notre Dame.

Boughen said that the Cyclones are confident that their game matches up well with any of the three teams remaining, "We have an advantage skill wise because we've played in some bigger tournaments and we have faith in all our guys on the team," he said.

Central's offensive ability has been on display all season, but their ability to lock down defensively is an underrated skill for the team. Their defensive play is also what the Cyclones feel could give them the edge this weekend.

"Our biggest key is defence, the teams can prepare for our offence, but they can't prepare for how hard we play defence," said Central senior Riley Seaborn.

The Cyclones and Crusaders tip-off at 4:15 p.m. at Walter Murray in Saskatoon. The gold medal game is on Saturday at 3 p.m. and the bronze medal game goes at 11 a.m.