Seniors

The conclusion of the season marks the end of three East seniors' careers: Andrew Nahum ('10), Ben Gerstein ('10) and Seth Friedman ('10). I just wanted to write some brief comments about each of the Cougar seniors.

Andrew Nahum truly should be commended for his leadership, unselfishness, and team first attitude that he exhibited the entire season for East. I have a lot of respect for Nahum and his unconditional devotion and leadership for the team, and after talking to his teammates- I found out they feel the same. Nahum came into the season as a projected starter/sixth man. The way everything worked out this year, head coach Mr. John Valore rarely substituted in players off the bench. In fact, excluding injuries, the same five who started games for East normally played most of, if not, the entire game for East. Nahum did have some opportunities to play this year, and when he did he played well. But because of significant contributions from some newcomers to the varsity squad this year, he did not play nearly as much as was expected early on in the season. Despite the fact he may not have played as much as he, or others would have liked, he could be seen every game encouraging his teammates and not showing the least bit of animosity for his situation. It is evident that he was a big piece to the chemistry of this year's team, and he will definitely be missed next year.

Ben Gerstein has probably the most triumphant story out of any of the graduating seniors. In middle school at Beck, Gerstein was cut as a 7th grader. While many players probably would have hung up competitive basketball after this set back, Gerstein continued to work hard in preparation for the following year's basketball tryouts. As an 8th grader, Gerstein made the "B" team at Beck, while basically all of his peers who played freshman basketball at East in 2007 were selected for the "A", or "higher level" team. Once again, Gerstein continued to fight, and by the time he arrived at East for his freshman basketball season, Gerstein's hard work was finally paying off. As a freshman, Gerstein played JV basketball. He played varsity as a sophomore, junior and senior, and started varsity as a junior and senior. It was really enjoyable to see Gerstein have a very good senior campaign after all of the hard work he put in over the past several years and to see his last successful field goal in high school be as big as it was (the three pointer that put East within 3 points versus Shawnee late in the fourth quarter of East's playoff game loss).

Seth Friedman's senior season was truly one that will be remembered for years to come. He broke two records (most assists in a single game (20) and most assists in a single season), and was possibly the biggest reason why the team was so successful this year. A four year varsity player for the Cougars, it was truly amazing to see just how much Friedman grew as a player this past year. Seth started at point guard for East last year as a junior, and at times, Seth seemed to play a bit tentatively. This year, Friedman played with absolutely no signs of nerves or tentativeness. Every single game, Friedman played with a sense of calmness that all great point guards seem to possess. As a senior, he developed a sense of mental toughness that allowed him to not fret in key possessions of the game. In addition to increasing his assist per game average from last year, he also dramatically decreased his turnover per game average. Without the play of Seth Friedman this season, there is no way East could have done as well as they did. His presence on the court will undoubtedly be missed next year.

With this last post also ends my career as a major contributor to this blog. Even though I will not be here next to cover East's basketball games, Max Cohen will continue running the blog next year. Both Karina (our photographer), Max, and I would like to thank all of the followers of our blog. We truly hope that people enjoyed all of the coverage we brought you this season. Only bbout 9 more months until next basketball season starts. GO COUGARS!