Maple T-Wolves forever

SHOOTING PAST QUARTERS: Maple High’s senior boys basketball team seeks a better finish than just quarter-final action when it comes to the York Region Athletic Association’s playoffs. Their only regular season loss came to Vaughan Voyageurs, but coach Azam Khan said the Timberwolves will be ready for them.

Senior boys look to Thomas, Osbourne for strong leadership

As the boys basketball season winds down, Maple High School’s seniors are revving up for a strong finish.

Coach Azam Khan said his team is preparing to follow through on their solid play after a respectable showing at the HoopDome High School Boys Basketball Tournament on Jan. 13-14.

“Everybody wrote us off — but we didn’t,” Khan said of their final game. “We were down 11 points with 1:10 left and we just kept pressing, got a couple of key steals and we ended up winning by three.”

Although the Timberwolves’ 2-1 record in the opening round was not enough for them to advance, Khan said he was impressed with the heart and hustle his squad showed.

“Overall for us it was a good performance,” he said. “We came up a bit short from where we wanted to be, but the end of it was positive for us if we can take that momentum.”

Khan described the Timberwolves as a shooting team and his players have certainly been able to put up points in previous tournaments. At the Griffins Classic in early December, Maple made it to the quarterfinals where they lost by four to host Central-Peel. Maple’s senior swingman Tyrell Thomas was named a tournament all-star after averaging 19 points per game.

“He’s our emotional leader and really helps step it up on the defence and scoring,” Khan said of Thomas. “When we need more push and more support he’s the guy.”

The T-Wolves also won the championship at the fifth annual Maple Blue ‘n’ Blue Tournament, which they hosted in mid-December. This time, Thomas was named Defensive MVP while his teammate Phillip Osbourne earned Most Valuable Player overall.

“He’s had several 25-plus point games,” Khan said of his big man Osbourne. “He’s got a lot of really good guard skills and he’s smart on the floor.”

Maple’s only loss during the regular season came at the hands of basketball powerhouse Vaughan Secondary. In this, his 10th year coaching the team, Khan said he hopes they make a deep playoff run.

“The last few years we’ve been able to push and get into the quarterfinals for York Region Tier One,” he said. “We’re still trying to push past that quarterfinal hump and hopefully this is our year and we can push further.”