EMMA WOLFRAM, MAYA OLYNYK
BASKETBALL
SCHOOL: South Kamloops
FRESHMAN’S FUTURE: Gonzaga, Saskatchewan
Maya Olynyk knew the day was going to come, and even though it now has, the star guard with the South Kamloops Titans seems happy to live in denial.
“I won’t think it’s real until I get to my new team and Emma isn’t there to play with,” says Olynyk, who is headed off to a collegiate career at the University of Saskatchewan next season, while longtime teammate and star post Emma Wolfram heads to Spokane to suit up for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
“We just have this chemistry, it’s from playing together the last eight years, since Grade 5,” she continues. “I guess I am going to have to try and build that with someone else.”
Maya Olynyk (left) and Emma Wolfram of South Kamloops. (Richard Lam, PNG photo)
For the last three seasons, they have been the dynamic duo of B.C. girls high school basketball.
As no-fear 10th graders, they helped carry the Titans to the 2011 provincials semifinals, which was, as it turned out, a prelude to back-to-back championships over their final two seasons of high school.
“There’s hundreds of schools and only 16 teams get to play in the tournament,” begins Wolfram, the 6-foot-4 post who is seen as a huge part of the future of the Canadian national team. “So for us to get to the final twice and win was so exciting. And it was a lot harder the second time around.”
Nonetheless, the Titans, coached throughout the magical three-year run by Maya’s father Ken Olynyk, delivered in crunch time.
Over that stretch Maya Olynyk proved herself to be a most versatile force, using her size and strength from the guard position to play any number of spots on the floor. And the chemistry she showed throughout her career with Wolfram was about as close to a basketball sisterhood as you could find.
Wolfram concluded her high school career as one of, if not the most decorated player, in the history of B.C. girls high school basketball. All she did was win three straight Defensive Player of the Year awards, and over the past two championship seasons, was also named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“You have to give up a lot, like spending time with your other friends,” Wolfram says of the demands placed on her schedule. “But at some point, you come to realize how much you love basketball, because you are giving up so many other things for it.”
And although Olynyk is sad to see the partnership end, the two families are so inextricably tied, that they will never lose touch of each other’s lives.
How closely tied?
Try this on for size: Emma is going to Gonzaga, the same university that Maya’s brother Kelly just left, as he declared himself eligible for this month’s NBA draft. Ken Olynyk coached Emma, Maya, Kelly, and Emma’s brother Josh, over their high school careers at South Kamloops. And in the fall, Josh will play for the team at Kamloops’ Thompson Rivers University where Ken just happens to be the athletic director.
You can’t make this stuff up.
