Maltby goes out in style
Dylan Maltby’s final night of high school basketball was a memorable one.
The 18-year-old, Grade 12B student at Denis Morris was named Player of the Game as Team North defeated Team South 77-61 in the Niagara Region Senior Boys All-Star Basketball Top 40 game at Governor Simcoe Thursday night.
“It was nice seeing people from other teams I’ve played against come together,” Maltby said. “I even felt that with the other team. We were going back and forth laughing.
“It was just a lot of fun.”
Maltby, who poured in a tournament-high 38 points to lead the Reds to a 78-54 win over the Blessed Trinity Thunder in the senior consolation championship at the BSPN Best of Niagara Boys Basketball earlier this season, was thrilled when he was selected to participate in the game.
“I remember my brother really wanting to get elected to the all-star game but I didn’t know with COVID ending whether it was going to happen because a lot of stuff got canceled, but I was so happy it did,” he said. “I was so honoured to be picked to the top 40.”
Maltby said the end of high school basketball will leave a void in his sporting life.
“I’m going to miss this so much,” he said. “I know there will be nothing like high school basketball. If I do go to the next level that’s going to be something as well but high school basketball is more of a family environment.”
Maltby plans to study psychology at Guelph next season, but isn’t sure about playing.
“I’m hoping to go out for the basketball team. I’m hoping to be able to bring it to the next level. I’m going to work hard and train and much as I can,” he said.
Simcoe coach John Ingribelli, who coached Team North with Sir Winston Churchill’s Martin Cook, had not seen much of Maltby play this season.
“I heard a lot of good things about him,” Ingribelli said. “I was really impressed. He can play.”
Scoring statistics were unavailable for the game as individual points were not kept track of properly on the game sheet.
The event was a collaborative effort by a number of groups. Niagara College hosted the event and donated the $400 in gate receipts to the Hope Centre in Welland. The Niagara District Basketball Referees Association officiated the games for free and the all-star shirts were being provided by St. Catharines CYO basketball.
Selected to the Team North Top 40 roster were: Maltby, Joshua Kaufman and Mike Ukiomogbe from Denis Morris; Colton Joyce from Collegiate; Kegan Harrison from Laura Secord; Zack Stolzenberg from DSBN Academy; Holy Cross’s Dwayne Osbourne and Lucas Muon; and, Michael Akinpetide from Blessed Trinity. Selected but unable to participate were Kajus Zilinskas from Collegiate and K.J. Robinson from Eden.
Selected to the Team South Top 40 roster were: Malachi Scott and Olise Omife from Great Lakes Christian; Nathan Sanchez from Saint Paul; Tyson Veldhuizen from Heritage Christian; Dylan Klassen from Westlane; Max Annunziata from Lakeshore Catholic; Adnan Awan from Thorold; and, Devon Devost from Saint Michael. Picked for the team but unable to take part were St Jean de Brebeuf’s Joel Kibulu and Adian Adutdillo and Dante DeBenedetti from Saint Paul.
Each head coach was asked to submit three nominations from their own school team and the committee then selected the rosters based on a player’s individual success as well as their team’s success.
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