Mother Teresa’s hopes for another strong senior boys basketball season are looking bright.
The Titans are 8-2 so far, and have already beaten defending provincial champion Pickering in an early year tournament.
Coach Richard Gallacher thinks they “have a real good shot” to make it to the TDCAA league finals for the fifth year in a row. Two of those ended in championships.
Titans lost to Henry Carr Crusaders in the city College’s finals last year.
As a team that has consistently been in the province’s top five for several years running, the Titans continue to have a reputation for having one of the city’s top basketball programs.
“Kids all across the city know that if they go to MT, they’re going to get decent coaching and ones that put in a lot of time working with them, ” says Gallacher.
The third-ranked Titans are actually one of three teams in the area who rank in the top-10 senior clubs in the city. Pickering currently ranks fourth, and West Hill is seventh.
Heading the team are some talented individuals. Maurice Walker, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound centre, has been scouted by some notable northeast teams from Division I schools in the United States, including Syracuse, Georgetown and Pittsburgh.
Ashton Khan, point guard, Romane Lawrence, at shooting guard and Akeem Isaac Phillips, combo guard, are planning to continue playing in post secondary as well.
The coaching staff is aware of how important the sport is to the kids.
“Basketball is a big part of this community, ” Gallacher says. “I would argue that we have one of the best programs in the province. “