The Central Cyclones fell one win short of their ultimate goal last year, losing in the provincial final. With a large group of returning players, the Cyclones looked like they were on a mission during Tuesday’s season opener.

In front of a packed house, Central put their foot down for four quarters and rolled to a 122-41 win over the Peacock Toilers to open the 2018-19 season in the Moose Jaw High School Senior Basketball League.

"It felt great," said Cyclones guard Kyle Boughen. "We came strong out on [defence] and that kind of paved the way for the game, we stopped the press early, but that set the tone for the rest of it."

Central had seven players score in double digits, led by a game-high 18 points from senior guard Hardil Khubber. Ethan Johnson added 16 points, Riley Seaborn had 13, Fharis Ebet picked up 12, Jaxson Brownell and Dylan Boughen scored 11 each and Crozier Holmes finished with 10 points.

The Cyclones also topped the 30-point mark in every quarter except the fourth, when they scored just 17, which was more than Peacock scored any of the four quarters.

Despite all that success to start the year, the Cyclones know that there are still areas to improve.

"We've got to get more physical, we've got to move better on rotations and we've got to talk more," said Boughen, who had nine points in the win for Central.

Peacock grade 10 forward Devin Baumann rises over a pair of Central defenders for a basket during Tuesday's season opener. (Photo: Marc Smith)

The Toilers had flashes throughout the game but struggled with the quick attack pressure that the Cyclones brought throughout the game.

Peacock head coach Troy Setter said it wasn't the result that they were hoping for, but there are good signs from his team early in the year.

"They're a real good team and we have a lot of work to do, but we knew that coming into the year and all we want to do is keep trying to get better," said Setter. "The guys battled hard, they kept fighting and that's all that we're looking for."

Spencer Adams led the Toilers with 13 points in the loss, while Logan Findlay chipped in with 11 points and Devin Baumann scored six.

The lopsided score never reflected the effort from the Toilers, who continued to battle for rebounds on offence and defence right through to the end of the game.

Setter said he's hoping that his team can learn from all areas of the game, "You can learn from it if you want to as players, if you do the things right, you can learn from it and I believe that our guys did today," he said.

"Every game you should see benefits from if you're doing all the little things, so hopefully we learn and cut it a bit closer next time."

Peacock returns to the court next Tuesday to host the Assiniboia Rockets, while Central travels out to Caronport to go up against the B.C.A. Cougars.

In other action on Tuesday, the Peacock girls opened their season with an 82-65 win over the Central Cyclones. The two games between Vanier and B.C.A. were postponed until Thursday due to the power outage that affected Saskatchewan on Tuesday.