Qureshi leads Wildcats to 4 wins in 5 games at OFSAA to capture AAA consolation championship

March 21, 2024 · 0 Comments

Co-Captain Rehan Qureshi and the Dr. G.W. Williams Wildcats had much to celebrate over the March Break after their memorable Senior Boys Basketball season ended with a AAA consolation championship at OFSAA.

Aurora’s oldest high school—ranked #4 in Ontario as the squad rolled down the QEW to Stoney Creek –captured the title on March 6 by edging the fifth-ranked St. Michael’s CS Blue Raiders of Toronto 63-59.

Qureshi fired 14 points to lead the Wildcats in scoring—as he did in four of the team’s five contests at the provincial championships.

Quereshi’s Wildcats cobbled together a 28-4 record in 2023-24 and quite a “hardware haul”: the school’s first York Region Senior Boys Basketball pennant; two tournament gold medals; two tournament bronze medals, and a consolation plaque earned by winning four of five games during the school’s first trip to OFSAA.

The Wildcats’ performance under the bright lights of the OFSAA “big top” was impressive.

In Game 1, Captain Qureshi would not be denied as he scored 28 points in the Wildcats’ 67-55 victory over the Cameron Heights CI Gaels of Kitchener—ranked 15th in the province.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats were upset 66-61 in Game 2 by the 13th-ranked Glebe CI Gryphons of Ottawa.

Qureshi once again led his team in scoring with 17 points, but could not save Dr. GW Williams Secondary School from being relegated to the consolation side of the tournament draw.

In Game 3, the Wildcats bounced back from the tough loss to Glebe with a 75-69 win over 11th-seeded St. Jean de Brebeuf CSS Braves of Hamilton.

Qureshi led the Williams’ attack with a timely 29-point performance to silence the home crowd assembled in Stoney Creek.

Razak Sudani scored 23 points to pace the Wildcats to a 65-48 win over the ninth-ranked Frontenac SS Falcons of Kingston to improve their OFSAA record to 3-1 and stamp their tickets to the consolation final showdown with St. Mike’s of Toronto.

Congratulations are extended to Coaches Kent Ravelle and Mark Fuller as well as their twelve outstanding Wildcats—Tim Antonios, Yonathan Abramov, Samuel Armagon, Kiefer Forrest, Judah James, Kevin Hum, Julien Binzangi, Rehan Qureshi, Adam Sheikhdon, Matt Wu, Razak Sudani, and Patrick Gidden—on a magical high school basketball season.

OFSAA Notes

The top-seeded Oakwood CI Barons of Toronto captured their second consecutive OFSAA “AAA” championship by defeating third-ranked Saltfleet DHS 53-38 in Stoney Creek on March 6. It was Oakwood’s third provincial title since 1993.

By Jim Stewart