Our January Athletes of the Month happen to both play Basketball and each brings a different perspective as to why they were chosen for this award.
Jordan Aiken, one of the senior captains, listened intently to his coaches and then worked hard to maximize the talents of this year’s players. “I have to give credit to my teammates for this award,” said the highly-regarded senior. “They really pushed me hard and as we got more familiar with the new style of defense from coaches Fitzpatrick and Eatmon, we had a successful month.” Jordan was named to the Gugliotta All-Tournament team this past December, and was just voted as an All-Conference player for the 2015 basketball season. This past fall, Jordan ran cross-country and in the spring will again be running track in the 800meter, 1mile, and 2mile events.
Jordan will be attending John Jay College for Criminal Justice in the fall and hopes to play basketball for the Bloodhounds.“Everything came together for us in January,” said Whitman sophomore and our January Female Athlete of the Month, Rosa Portaro. “Our offense is improving, we have a really strong defense, and we’ve been winning.” That strong defense Rosa talked about was crucial in handing Northport their first loss of the season. “When you can hold Northport to a season low of only 34 points, you know our girls are delivering a great defensive effort,” said Coach Dan Trebour after the game. Rosa had 10 points in the big win over their rival. The girl’s regular season ended with a 10-4 record and came to a close after a first-round loss in the playoffs when they came up short to Brentwood who is now in the division semifinals. Rosa was voted All-League for the 2015 season.
We will see Rosa on the lacrosse field this spring and look forward to next year’s basketball season as the Lady Wildcats return most of their starters and look to be a strong contender in League II.
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