Shevuon, January 27, 2012

This past Monday, Gann’s Dance Team performed at the pregame show for

the Celtics in their game against the Orlando Magic at TD Gar-den. They performed a hip hop remix piece choreographed by senior captain Abbey Lin-sky. Unfor-tunately, she was injured a couple of weeks before the game and was unable to perform with the team.

The team found this o p p o r t u n i t y through one of the dancer’s par-ents, who connected them to the Celtics planning office and the girls had been preparing for this event since the beginning of the school year. Before the performance, Patricia Boch-nak, the Dance Team’s coach, remarked, “The Team is very excited to be performing at such a historic venue.” Sophomore Elana Hershman echoed, “I’m pretty excited! It will be cool to actually be able to perform our dance in front of people outside of Gann.”

To prepare for this event, the team sold “Gobble Grams” before Thanksgiving in order to fundraise for tickets and sold game tickets to the Gann community before it was even

certain whether there would be an NBA season this year (due to the lockout, which ended December 8th). Additionally, the Dance Team spent the first semester learning jazz, hip hop and even ballet technique. The

whole process was a challenge and a learning experience, es-pecially because the space was much larger than what they were used to, with audiences on all four sides. Bochnak says, “This event has given the Team an opportunity to perform for a large audience in a once-in-a-lifetime kind of performance. It has given them a common goal to work towards, to learn, perfect and rehearse this piece.”

Before they got on the bus that took them to the Garden, Rabbi Baker spoke with the Dance Team saying that he was proud that they were represent-ing Gann at the Celtics game and that they would be the most modest act the Celtics had ever seen. For good luck, the girls

also said the Shema in the dress-ing room before they went onto the court.

When the big performance was complete, both the team and the audience were happy and proud. Dance Team mem-

ber Emma Klapper says, “When I got there, I felt this rush of energy, and when I got onto the court, I danced like I’ve never danced before!” Sopho-more Jamie Hips-man, who went to the game with her dad, remarks, “I thought they did a really, really good

job, and it was so cool to see people you know dancing on the court!”

Even students who couldn’t go to the game, like sophomore Rebecca Wihl, appreciate the performance, saying, “I am proud of our school’s dance team and am glad that they had an opportunity to showcase their talent.” Dancer Ellie Pasternack states, “I think the biggest effect that performing at the Celtics game will have on Dance Team is improving our reputation…[It’s] showing that Dance Team is actually serious about dance.”

Congratulations to all the members of Gann’s Dance Team!

In Here• Second semester begins

Monday.• Gann’s World Language

Department celebrates the Chinese New Year with special food and cultural performances.

• Sophomores, juniors and seniors have a Teen Issues program during Limud Clali.

• Students select new Chug Shabbat options for sec-ond semester.

Out There• The New England Patri-

ots and New York Giants are set to meet in the Superbowl.

• MegaUpload, a Hong Kong-based file storage and viewing site, is shut down and its founder Kim Dotcom is arrested for intentional copyright infringement.

• Newt Gingrich wins the South Carolina GOP Primary.

• President Barack Obama delivers the annual State of the Union address.

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton states that she will not stay on the job if President Obama wins reelection and that she is ready to step off “the high wire of American Politics.”

Gann Gets OutGann students give back to their communities and celebrate MLK Jr.’s work in a variety of ways on MLK day.

“Schecht the Heifer!”Hannah Vaitsblit shares her opinion on Gann’s basketball rivalry with Maimo.

Shevuon Hat chon שבועון התיכוןFriday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב • Shabbat: 4:35 - 6:06 • Volume 14, Issue 21

Page 6 Page 7

Gann’s Dance Team performs before Monday’s Celtics game at TD Garden.Credit: Patricia Bochnak

Dancing With the All StarsBy Annika GompersSpotlight

Shevuon hatichon, Friday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב Page 2

Gann students, like typical teenagers, have a love for music and strive to obtain it any way they can. Recently, many of the methods fellow students use to download their music have come under fire, but that actually isn’t

stopping them from acquiring music in this manner. In fact, every person who I inter-viewed admitted to using illegal methods in downloading some of their music.

At our school, many students are aware of the illegality of music downloaders such as dirpy.com or Frostwire and are slightly ambivalent about using them, as junior Rachel Brody explains, “I think stealing from the artists and all the people that worked hard to produce a song is probably not the best thing to be doing.” However, like a large number of music lovers, Brody continues, “It doesn’t stop me because it’s readily accessible and so far I’ve had no consequences for it.” This combination of facility and lack of consequence steers most everyone to download their music il-legally even though they might not agree with the morality of it. As an anonymous freshman explains, “it’s not that I’m happy about doing it illegally, it’s that I love music but I can’t just go around spending $1.29 on every single song I like.”

Many people face this conflict of not

wanting to spend too much money on the music they desire, so they find illegal downloading to be an easy solution. The freshman continues, explaining, “It just gets out of hand because it’s so expensive for the amount of music I like.” Some even note that they don’t feel the need to be pay-ing money for their music. Many people claim that either the artists don’t really need our money, or that the money isn’t en-tirely going to the artists. Freshman Amos Armony states, “I just think the musicians don’t need my money since most of it goes to the producers anyway,” while freshman Polly Lejfer adds, “I don’t feel like I have to give [my money] to people who already have millions of dollars from their music.”

Others try to justify their actions, claim-ing that they only resorted the illegal option out of necessity. Sophomore Sarah Katz de-scribes, “I [try] my hardest to get it legally and to pay for it, but if the artist isn’t selling their music then it isn’t my fault. I did all I [could] to legally acquire it.” Sophomore Aaron Benjamin further explains further, “Sometimes it’s the only way you can get [the music you want].”

But perhaps the actual underlying reason behind people’s gravitation towards illegal downloading is the absence of punishment. Similar to jay-walking, it’s almost univer-sally known that music piracy is illegal, yet people don’t think twice about doing it. It’s so widespread that trying to control

it becomes difficult, and punishments be-come extremely infrequent. Brody admits, “It doesn’t affect me personally because I don’t feel like I’m doing anything wrong, whether that’s because everyone does it or because it’s so easy, I’m not sure.”

People have developed the idea that their illegal downloading isn’t affecting anyone; the classic concept that if everybody’s do-ing it and not getting punished, then it must be okay. Lejfer notes, “Sometimes I feel bad about it but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. It’s not harming anybody or any-thing.” Illegal downloading has become so commonplace, that it no longer strikes students as an issue with which to concern themselves.

However, the truth is that many people have been fined substantial sums of money due to illegally downloading music. And committing this seemingly minor crime does affect the music industry, particularly the artists, in important ways. Nevertheless, considering the benefits of piracy, many claim that you can’t really blame people for gravitating towards this form of music downloading. It seems only natural to cross the street from where you are rather than walking another block to the crosswalk, simply to follow the law, especially when no one is going to penalize you for your actions.

Stealing Music Isn’t Really StealingBy Eden DiamondStudent Lounge

SCORE REPORT

Senior Jake Katz takes a shot on Wednesday’s Boys Varsity Basketball game against CSW.

Read more about this week’s sports on Page 8!

By Rachel Nieves and Miriam Silverman

Shevuon hatichon, Friday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב Page 3

(JSL office)

The acronyms SOPA and PIPA have popped up all over the Internet in the past week, with the tensions catching many people’s attention on January 18, when Wikipedia participated in a blackout day on the English version of its site, along with an esti-mated 7,000 other smaller websites.

The acronym SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act and it is a bill that endeavors to “pro-mote prosperity, creativ-ity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes,” according to its full of-ficial title. The supporters of the bill say that it should be passed in order to protect intellectual material on the Internet. However, those opposing the bill are concerned about the damage that the bill could do to websites such as Flickr and YouTube, which rely on their users submit-ting their own content. The implications

of passing SOPA are dire to many, and for that reason Wikipedia held a blackout day in order to raise awareness. It says that its blackout was seen by 160 million people in the 24 hours that it was up.

Many Gann students didn’t know about the bills before seeing the message from Wikipedia. Sophomore Abraham Cheloff explains, “I didn’t know about the bills before the blackouts, and was very upset... when Wikipedia was down for the day.” Some teachers even took the time to dis-

cuss the blackout and the bills in class. While the blackouts raised awareness

among Gann students, many hadn’t heard about SOPA or PIPA before they discov-ered that Wikipedia was down, and the

taking down of the site did not necessar-ily educate students or influence them to act against the bill. Sophomore Annika Gompers comments, “The blackout day didn’t really affect me because someone told me a way to get around the Wikipe-dia blackout...I have yet to get involved.” However, some Gann

students were quick to take action against the bill. Junior Jordana Rubin says, “I did sign the petition and I emailed my senator.” Sophomore Jacob Alford adds that he also “did a lot of conversing on the topic.”

Part of the reason why Gann students were not so quick

רק עוד חודשיים עד שבוע חקירה בגן אקדמימאת: קרן רדביל

עיברית

SOPA Incites Fury in Some and Apathy in OthersBy Rebecca WihlIHOT

continued on page 6

Hundreds of websites shut down last week in protest of the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills. Credit: Alicia Zolondick

Credit: JSL

Shevuon hatichon, Friday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב Page 4

WallInfoPhotosFriends

January 27, 2012

Friday, January 27: Pisces

Try not to worry too much about what’s coming up to-day -- you can handle it! You may also need to separate yourself from the group a bit, but only temporarily. You can move mountains if you try.

Horoscope

Share: Quote of the Week

Because the time we already spend on Facebook isn’t enough,

here is gannbook...

To be featured in gannbook, send your submissions to

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 Birthdays:

  Rachel Wolfman

Teacher Fun FactIn high school and college, Dr. Sokol was in many musicals such as, Guys and Dolls, Carousel, Anything Goes, Oklahoma, Pippin, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Once Upon a Mattress.

World LanguageEdited by Rahel Nessim

Dr. Sokol

Julia Goldberg 1/27Gabriela Tchubar 1/30Benjamin Suttin 1/31

Joe changed his profile picture.Haley Cashman likes this.

Haley Cashman

Joe Sandperl

Ari Grant-Sasson 1/30

Alana Windmueller

Optical Illusion

Sarah Schneider 2/1

Thought Provoking Questions of the Week

Tyler Crane to Hannah Vaitsblit in French class:

“If I marry you, will you do housework?”

briangle.com

Support alumni Avi Small and Maddie Kriger in Northwestern University’s Dance Marathon to

raise money to fight childhood cancer!Donate at

http://www.nudm.org/dancers/avismall orhttp://www.nudm.org/dancers/MaddieKriger

A generous donor has offered to match all donations from the Gann community up to $400,

so donate now!What is your favorite Friday lunch option?

Why is it that people say they “slept like a baby” when babies wake up pretty much every two hours? Why are you IN a movie, but you’re ON TV?

Mac'n Cheese 23%

Grilled Cheese 28%

Caesar Salad Wrap 23%

Individual Pizza 16%

Other 10%

What is your favorite Friday lunch option?

100 students surveyed

Are the holes on the inside or the outside?

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Shevuon hatichon, Friday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב Page 5

When several Arab infiltrators hacked into prominent Israeli websites a little more than a week ago, they didn’t know that they were instigating a bona fide cy-ber war. This Arab group, comprising of Saudis and others, initiated the cycle of cyber attacks by hacking into the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange and El Al airlines websites and publicly posting private information tak-en from these sites. Instigated by these initial Arab cyber-attacks, another form of Middle East war has manifested itself; a new form of animosity has taken root.

In retaliation, a group of Israeli hackers calling them-selves “IDF-Team” targeted the websites of renowned banks in the Gaza Strip and United Arab Emirates, in addition to the websites of many Arab stock exchanges, such as Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Tadawul, the Saudi stock exchange. The emerging cyber war—targeting mainly financial websites on each respective side so far—could have detrimental economic, as well as political, implications.

Beyond just financial considerations,

many consider cyberspace a new, virtual battlefield. While neither side will suffer civilian casualties, the morality of these hack attacks is called into question. Senior Harrison Shecter reflects, “I expected this from our enemies, but not from us.”

Perhaps a genuine cyber war is precisely what the Arab initiators—or at least some of them—had intended. OxOmar, the Arab hacker who instigated the Internet attacks and a self-proclaimed “stronger [hater] of Israel,” declared that he “will finish Israel electronically.” Despite much ambiguity regarding OxOmar’s nationality and back-ground, his goals remain clear: he not only

hopes, but asserts, that “[t]he end of Israel is very close.” Earlier in January, OxOmar alone claimed credit for hacking into a ma-jor Israeli credit card website and revealing thousands of private account details.

On Thursday, the “IDF-Team” hacked into both an English-language Iranian media outlet website and the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education website, taking both offline.

Much like the Israeli Defense Forces itself, the “IDF-Team” declared that it will not issue any more cyber-attacks without its Arab opponents first initiat-ing a new cycle of battles. As one member of the “IDF-Team” affirmed, “We will not attack without a reason. We are waiting

to see if there are more attacks on Israel.” The implications, especially financial ones, of the cyber war remain to be seen—they could depend on the extent of the attacks in the coming weeks. Either way, the Internet is currently serving as an outlet for virtual Arab aggression and Israeli revenge in a time of relative physical peace. Facts from JPost and IsraelNationNews.com.

Credit: panarmenian.net

Cyber War: A New Manifestation of an Age-Old BattleBy Rebecca PritzkerIsrael

One of the many controversial aspects of Parshat Bo is the fact that God punishes all of the Egyptians for Pharaoh’s sins, instead of just punishing Pharaoh. The par-shah states that all of the first-born children of Egypt will die.

One could take many different ap-proaches to dealing with this apparent mor-al conundrum. The first would be to claim that everyone in Egypt was guilty. The verse uses midwives as an example, and the midwives, with the exception of Shifra and Pu’ah, participated in the slaughter of all of the Jewish baby boys. However, the midwives are only a tiny fraction of the people in Egypt. Can we really claim that since all of Egypt benefitted from the Jews’ slave labor, all of their first-born children

deserved to die?Another approach would be to claim

that it was necessary to punish all of the Egyptian people so that Pharaoh would agree to let Bnei Yisrael go, but that is problematic as well. Throughout the Par-sha, God has been hardening Pharaoh’s heart, thereby preventing him from allow-ing the Jews to go. If God’s only goal was to set the Jews free, that could have hap-pened many plagues back. And who’s to say that killing all of the first-born children was necessary? Maybe if God had only killed Pharaoh’s son, the Jews would still be set free without God having to kill every Egyptian first-born?

A third approach is to say that some-times, people have to take responsibility

for the society in which they live. It wasn’t Pharaoh’s problem – it was Egypt’s prob-lem. Too few midwives acted like Shifra and Pu’ah. The Egyptian society was will-ing to go along with what Pharaoh ordered, so the whole Egyptian society had to be punished. None of Pharaoh’s decrees could have been carried out without support and cooperation from the rest of Egypt. Egypt had become a society of bystanders.

This teaches us that we have to take responsibility for our community and for our society. We have to speak up when we see that something is wrong, because if we don’t, we are part of the problem, and we are just as guilty as the people who lead our society.

Parshat BoBy Jeremy Jick and Rachel KasimerD’var Torah

Shevuon hatichon, Friday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב Page 6

SOPA Incites Fury in Some and Apathy in Others continued from page 3

“Which team do you root for?!” is a question I can predict from the lips of any fan. I am an ex-Maimo alum/sister of Maimo starting forward/Gann senior, all of

which come to a head at the Gann-Maimo games. These two frigid nights in Janu-ary come to define the winter calendar of the Jewish population of Greater Boston, which disperses itself pretty evenly along the lines of the two Jewish day schools. And these games don’t even count! Yet it’s a vicious competition of skills, sports-manship and maybe even a little battle of religious ideologies, if I dare say so. I can’t root for Maimo (I’m pretty committed to Gann), I can’t root for Gann (I’m related to my brother) and neutrality is forbidden ter-ritory. But my conflicts of allegiance pale in comparison to the issues raised by the whole event…

There is the problem of who will sing the bi-national anthems; a single girl singer will offend one school, while only boys will offend the other. We haven’t even started the game and already we’ve reached a roadblock, engaged in the ultimate Jewish discourse, a machloket! Next there is the is-sue of dress code. It’s no secret that the girls

on the Maimo team wear more fabric than do ours, and that most of the Gann boys are playing kippa-less, something about which Maimo fans never miss the opportunity to remind me.

But this is all on the sidelines; the real clash is in a war of words that fiercely fuels the entire match. Our side embraces chants of “Pluralism!” and “We treat our men and women equally!” (to which I can’t help but throw dirty looks, but I’m biased). The other side spurts out the “M-A-I-M-O-N-I-D-E-S, let’s go!” mnemonic, which was the first official foolproof method I learned for spelling my elementary school’s name. (I still use it sometimes to remember where to put the “I’s” and the “O’s”). To be fair, the Maimo kids ruthlessly insert snappy Scriptural rhetoric in their violent bursts of “Schecht the Heifer!” They shoot disgusted glances at the Gann female fans wear-ing––Dear God!––pants (even when their own girls show up in the same attire). The war of ideologies continues past the game, when Facebook posts celebrate a “Schech-ted Heifer” or refer to “Gann-henom.” Clearly, neither side walks away with clean hands; it’s been a bloody battle from the Hatikvah to the last halachic second of the fourth quarter.

But sometimes I wonder if we, as Gann students, take it too far. Don’t get me wrong––I think the religious imagery and

ideological jabs are hilarious––but our “sportsmanship” is questionable at times, to say the least. Stomping and booing dur-ing foul shots? I mean, we are the Heifers, but I don’t think the goal is to become the physical manifestation of the mascot. Maybe I missed the cue? Gann senior shooting guard Gary Baker tells me that the stomping and booing is all “part of the game” and that “both Maimo and Gann are pretty loud.” Perhaps I’m the only one who takes the religious overtones to heart? Or maybe there is some truth to it, as junior Ori Ramon acknowledges, “Unlike other schools, we’re constantly thinking about what’s ok to shout, and what’s not.” So now it’s a question of political correctness? This is just about where it turns from a friendly game of basketball into a friendly ideologi-cal debate. But Ramon challenges me on the “Pluralism” chant, opining: “That’s what distinguishes our school from theirs.” Perhaps, but since when did “pluralism” become a part of basketball? I know about free throws, shot clocks, lay-ups and picks––not tri-chitzas and progressive Ju-daism on the court.

Or it’s possible we’re all equal offend-ers––Heifer, M-Cat, in-between and unde-cided––in the parallel universe of Jewish fandom. Maybe this is nothing and we are all just, as junior forward and captain Mad-die Rodman asserts, “friends off the court.”

Basketball, Bible,––Bloodbath?By Hannah VaitsblitOpinion

to act was because, for some, they didn’t feel as though the bills would really af-fect them in major ways. Gompers says, “My concerns about these laws passing is basically about the sites I use to watch TV shows.” For some, the full scope of what SOPA and PIPA could do wasn’t clear, and for others, it didn’t register at all. Sopho-

more Jonathan Koralnick even went as far as to say, “I do not know what PIPA or SOPA are, nor do I care.” However, to some Gann students, the implications of what the bills could do are extremely worrisome. Rubin says, “The impact will be huge. The You-Tube community has changed my life...I’m worried about my and my friends’ YouTube

video channels getting shut down.” While the bill has yet to be passed and

is being reviewed again, Gann students should do their best to educate themselves about these bills because the consequences could be serious for all of us.

Want to guest write for the Shevuon? Contact Jeremy Jick ([email protected])

Shevuon hatichon, Friday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב Page 7

WritersRachel Brody ‘13, Lily Cohen ‘13, Tyler Crane ‘12, Harrison Dale ‘15, Eden Diamond ‘14, Jordana Gardenswartz ‘13,

Josh Goldstein ‘12, Annika Gompers ‘14, Sloane Grinspoon ‘13, Jake Katz ‘12, Jonah Kriger ‘13, Sarah Newman ‘14, Ellie Pasternack ‘14, Eliana Perlmutter ‘12, Rebecca Pritzker ‘13, Ezra Porter ‘12, Gil Propp ‘13, Abby Schwartz ‘13,

Jackie Teperman ‘13, Hannah Vaitsblit ‘12, Rebecca Wihl ‘14, Matt Zackman ‘13Editor in Chief Jeremy Jick Managing Editor Sarah Kusinitz Layout Editor Emily Dale

Assistant Editors Ellie Deresiewicz, Anna Fasman & Aaron Goodtree Copy Editor Maya Feldman Photography Editors Liam Gandelsman & Maya Warburg Faculty Advisor Shoshanah Zaritt

Hebrew Editor Ilana Rosenbluh Faculty Consultants Deb Carroll, Matt Conti & Jonah Hassenfeld

Although commonly referred to as “MLK Day,” the full name of the holiday on the third Monday of January is “Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.” Every year, volunteers from across the nation try to answer Martin Luther King Jr.’s big question: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” Taking the intent of the day in mind, administrators, faculty, students and the Gann Parents’ Association gave their opinions as to how our school should treat the day. Says Jewish Student Life’s Jonah Wagan, “We thought about whether we wanted a ‘day on’ in school or a day out but still on.”

In past years, MLK day has been a day of education to “learn about MLK’s life, civil rights and what that whole time period is about,” explains Wagan. However, attendance was always slim and many students challenged the school as to why we should be so unique in being the lone institution that still func-tions on the day. Says Wagan, “There’s al-ways been a question of whether we should be in school learning on a day when most of the community is off.” Additionally, the school was concerned with members of faculty who are not educators but still had to spend their MLK days at 333 Forrest St. The school finally decided to make MLK day a day out but still on.

Starting in November, the JSL office, with the help of the GPA and faculty members, started looking for volunteering locations. They looked at the towns from where many Gann students come and saw what community events each was having. They looked in local newspapers and town

websites. Finally, they found 14 locations with a mix of volunteering, communal engagement and an appreciation of the day to make this day a “day on.” Wagan adds,

“Getting out and doing community service is an important part of Gann. We have this eighteen hour requirement for kids to get out in their community, whether it’s through celebrating or doing actual com-munity service.”

On Monday, January 16th, 2012, more than 55 Gann students were out serving their communities. Freshman Kineret Grant-Sasson says, “I went to a church in Roxbury and volunteered for an organiza-tion called YMORE that unites urban and suburban communities to make change. We talked about common concerns we have in the greater Boston area and how we can change them.” Sophomore Keren Radbil shares, “I went to the Cambridge ‘Many Hands’ event and made blankets and little kits with crayons and paper for kids who need to wait for the emergency room.”

Junior Matt Zackman “did a march in Lex-ington, then went to a program where there was a documentary, singing and a speaker.” Senior Ayelet Pinnolis “participated in an

arts and crafts project [at the MFA] to make a paper mural representing community.”

Zackman confirms, “I feel that it is important for MLK to be outside of school due to the fact that it al-lows us to decide what we want to do with the day and what kind of programming, if any, we want to be a part of.” Radbil enthuses, “It was a great experience and I hope to go to [‘Many Hands’] again next year during MLK.”

However, Pinnolis challenges, “I actually preferred the program we had at school last year. I learned a

lot more and it was more meaningful. Although it’s great to be out in the

community, I don’t feel like I added much to the greater community.” Senior Hannah Vaitsblit agrees, “I wish there were more service options like working at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. I wish there were better options for actual service, not just ‘engagement events.’”

Pinnolis, though, looks towards the future: “I think the out of school program could definitely be a bigger success in future years with further development of programming.” Wagan says, “I can’t say what’s going to happen next year, but we think it’s really important that we give people this opportunity to volunteer in their communities—to not necessarily learn in school but to go out and do.”

Gann Students volunteer at the “Many Hands” event in Cam-bridge and make blankets and crayon kits for overcrowded emergancy rooms. Credit: Jonah Wagan

Out But OnBy Jordana GardenswartzSpotlight

Shevuon hatichon, Friday, January 27th, 2012 • ג‘ בשבט, תשע״ב Page 8

The Boys Varsity Basketball team has been enjoying great success in the last few weeks. The team is missing many of its players, but has still managed to hold its own on the court. Starting small forward senior Benzi Dagi sprained his ankle in a game last week against Brimmer and May, and the team has been feeling his absence since. Furthermore, senior point guard Josh Goldstein is currently nursing a concussion after getting his head smashed against the gym floor at the Maimo game on Saturday night.

With seniors David Roberts and Joe Sandperl out for two games as well, the boys have had to rally. Although the boys suffered a tough loss against arch-rival Maimonides, it has put the game behind them, following this loss with two key wins against The Learning Center for the Deaf and Cambridge School of Weston.

With the absence of Dagi, Goldstein, Sandperl and Roberts, several players have stepped up and have been getting more playing time. Senior guard Elan Radbil has

been playing stupendously, netting eight points and getting an outstanding six steals against the Cambridge School of Weston. Following the team’s extraordinary victory,

Radbil says, “I knew my time would come to step up and prove myself. I’m just happy I could help the team out and get the ‘W’ against CSW.” Junior forward Michael Z-T has also stepped up and had an amazing game against The Learning Center for the Deaf on Monday, scoring 10 points and helping lead the team to an exciting one point victory.

As of Wednesday, Sandperl and Roberts are back in the lineup, but only time will tell how long Dagi and Goldstein will be out. In the mean time, the boys will need to continue to try their best. Currently in fourth place in the league, the team is bat-tling for a strong playoff seeding and could use all the support it can get. Come out and watch the boys in their next and final home game of the season against Dexter on Wednesday, February 8th. Go Gann!

Last Saturday night, M-Cat and Heifer fans alike gathered in the gym of Brookline High School to watch Gann Girls’ Varsity basketball face off against Maimonides. The Gann girls walked on to the court determined to prove to Mai-mo that the previous weekend’s win was no fluke. Meanwhile, the M-Cats started off the game with a fire in their eyes, ready to beat the team that had defeated them just one week earlier.

Looking at the stats from the first quarter alone, one would not believe that it was the same team that played for the second, third and fourth quarters. In just eight minutes, Gann had over ten fouls called on them and was losing 16-7. Coach Goose says, “We made the game closer than we needed to because we didn’t really show up in the first quarter.” Luckily, the nine-point deficit was enough to make the girls pull it together and put in more effort, which brought the score much closer by the end of the half.

The game remained neck and neck throughout the entire second half. With less

than a minute left, the score was tied and everything came down to less than 60 sec-onds worth of playing time. Junior captain Maddie Rodman then hit a key shot to give

Gann the lead, and the team was able to play tight defense for the remainder of the game in order to secure the win.

Despite the win, the difficulty with which the Gann girls had starting off the game with has been an unfortunately typical occurrence throughout the season.

Coach Goose tells the players before every single game that they must come out strong as soon as the game starts. Even so, it takes the team at least a few minutes into the

game, sometimes more, to warm up and feel confident. Senior captain Rachel Nieves says, “We have to start playing hard for all four quarters.” In a game like the Maimo game, in which it was only one basket that made the difference, every second on the court counts. “We were able to hit some really important shots with just a couple minutes left. I guess we’re just good under pressure,” says sophomore Nikki Teper-man. Nonetheless, Gann will not always be able to afford to take so much time getting in the rhythm. With so many big league games

coming up, the girls will have to play 32 minutes of strong basketball in every single game in order to have a good chance of playing in the NEPSAC finals.

Avid Heifer fans paint their bodies in Gann colors at the Gann-Maimo Basketball game on Saturday night.

Yes, They Did It AgainBy Jackie Teperman

Boys Varsity Basketball Team Soaring Despite Missing PlayersBy Jake Katz

MVP of the Week goes to

Gary Baker

for making two 3-point shots in the last few seconds of the Gann-Maimo

Basketball game.

Credit:Maya Warburg