January 17, 2016
Issue No. 3
www.westsidenewsny.com
SOUTH EDITION
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Roberts senior basketball star approaches record making history by Warren Kozireski
to lead Roberts Wesleyan to a 60-49 women’s basketball victory over St. Thomas Aquinas to Senior Samantha Courtney scored a game- improve their record to 13-1 overall and 5-1 in high 19 points and changed the offensive conference action. game plan of the opponent with five blocks The Redhawks never trailed after a back-andforth first quarter, but led by just two at halftime. They outscored STJ 16-8 to open up a ten-point third quarter lead thanks to two field goals and a free throw from Courtney, a pair of baskets by Taylor Bynoe and two of Brooke Fields’ game total of 16 points. St. Thomas went on a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter to close the gap to four with 5:18 remaining, but Courtney hit on a drive and the Redhawks were a perfect eight-for-eight from the free throw line over the final two minutes to seal Samantha Courtney, a senior at Roberts Wesleyan, has 15 games the win. remaining in her college career. With a total of 951 career points, “I kind of expected it, but she is just 49 points away from becoming the tenth player in the you don’t know if it’s really going to happen,” Courtney college’s history to reach 1,000. Provided photo.
said about the first year under new head coach Gary Andrews. “We’re a really good team and it’s well put together along with the coaching and the plays we’ve run.” “We had no idea what to expect or how they (Andrews) wanted to coach, but our plays aren’t focused on one person so other teams don’t know how to stop us.” In addition to her 19 points and five blocks, Courtney, who entered the game fourth in the East Coast Conference with 12.4 rebounds per game, tied with Lucy Covley for the team-high with six boards. Point guard Fields had 16 points, Bynoe ten and Covley added eight. “We knew it would be a battle, especially since we played last night so we just had to tough it out and did a really good job,” Andrews said. “We had high expectations and I thought we’d be pretty good. Our only loss was in triple-overtime, but we have great kids so I think the sky is the limit for this team.” Courtney, one of two seniors with Lakiah Huff, finished the weekend with 951 career points—just 49 shy of becoming the tenth player in Roberts Wesleyan history to reach 1,000 in her career.
Samantha Courtney. Provided photo. With 15 games remaining in the regular season and in her college career, Courtney is becoming a bit reflective about what might be next. “Possibly coaching and I’ve thought about going overseas, but I’m not really sure and you never know what can happen.”
Hilton ninth-graders get firsthand account of life in Iran Hilton ninth-graders listened attentively as Madeleine Gasdik recounted her childhood as the daughter of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. The presentation followed the students’ reading of the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, an autobiography about growing up in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution. Gasdik, the current director of the Alleghany County Office for the Aging, was born in Pakistan, then lived in what was then Saigon, Vietnam before moving to Tehran, Iran where she attended an American high school. “I have many fond memories of living in Iran and miss it,” she said. “The Persians are kind, loving and compassionate people.” Gasdik also recounted how, while living in Saigon, her house would shake when tanks went by and how her family would hide in her parents’ windowless bedroom when there was gunfire. Gasdik invited Mark Lijek to speak to the
students over the phone from his home in Seattle. Lijek is one of the six American diplomats who evaded capture during the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran and taking of embassy personnel as hostages by Islamist students and militants on November 4, 1979. Under the ruse that they were a film crew from Canada, the diplomats escaped to Switzerland. The Academy Award winning 2012 film Argo was based on the operation. “Everyone you meet has their own story,” Lijek told the students. “It is important to listen.” The presentation was part of “IB Day” where students engage in special presentations and projects to put into practice the traits of the International Baccalaureate learner profile. For example, the trait of open mindedness involves critically appreciating one’s own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. Students seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and are willing to grow from the experience. Provided information
Madeleine Gasdik, who spent part of her childhood in Tehran, Iran as the daughter of a CIA agent, shares with Hilton High School freshmen some of the items she brought back with her. Provided photo.
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