The Briercrest Christian Academy Cougars might not have picked up a win over the Peacock Toilers in Moose Jaw high school basketball league action on Thursday night, but they definitely sent a message: things are going to be very interesting down the stretch and in the playoffs.
At the same time, the Toilers showed no interest in having their decade-long dynasty fall by the wayside as they improved to 8-0 on the season with a 66-64 victory over BCA at Peacock.
Caronport-based Briercrest Christian fell to 4-3 with the loss but were more than happy to find themselves in touch with the Toilers.
“I thought we played really well, actually,” said Cougars Grade 12 guard Melissa Ellis. “After a couple of games where we had some tough luck against Central, it was good to play this well against Peacock. I thought we came back with our best confidence and played with all our heart. So we don't feel sad about this one, we're just going to have to come out harder the next one.”
Things were close right from the get-go, as BCA never trailed by more than 10 points and found themselves within one 33-32 at the half and down six 52-46 through three quarters. That lead was as high as eight at one point in the fourth quarter, but the Cougars battled back and used some timely turnovers to pull back within two at multiple points in the game's waning moments.
That included the game's final possession when they managed to get off a three-pointer at the buzzer but narrowly missed.
“The adrenaline was pumping in those last few seconds, something just clicked and we went really hard,” Ellis said. “So it was a bit of a bummer that we missed that last three, but no hard feelings.”
Toilers coach Penny Maelde was herself impressed with what BCA brought to the court.
“Hats off to Caronport, they wanted that game, they executed well, they just played a great game,” Maelde said. “If you have a good solid gameplan, anything is possible. And we certainly realize that as a team, the days of winning by 30, 40 points are behind us and we need to be prepared as well.”
Still, it was a Peacock win, with the backcourt duo of Piper Ingalls and Caitlyn Johnson offering the kind of time-killing ball control that helped the Toilers seal the deal.
“When it's late in a game like that, you look to your leaders on the team and we're fortunate to have a couple of Grade 12s who have been in this situation and can take control, hold the ball when they need to and be there in the end,” Maelde said. “But they did get a shot off on us, so it can happen.”
Ingalls led all scorers with 18 points, while Anna Maelde scored 12 and Caitlyn Johnson added 11.
Brooklyn Martens scored 17 points to lead Caronport, Ellis picked up 14.
With two weeks of regular season play left followed by the playoffs, Ellis is happy to see her team in serious contention after a series of lean years at BCA.
“It feels really good, especially since we've been a weaker team the last couple of years,” she said. “It's nice to come in strong and really give it our best shot and we're going to try and do the same thing the rest of the way.”
In boys league action from Thursday, Peacock took a 94-47 win over BCA. Scorers were unavailable.
