Week in review

Raising the ante

Fundraising for Haiti, shoeless children and those afflicted by cancer define the week’s hardwood play

By RICHARD A. ROSS

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — The devastating earthquake in Haiti has unleashed a compassionate response worldwide and in our backyard. At Liberty High School, tragedy-inspired senior Taylir Lorino beseeched the school board for permission to use the boys basketball home game against Port Jervis as a fundraising effort. Utilizing her visibility on Facebook, Lorino’s energetic campaign resulted in upwards of $820 dollars for the Relief Fund for Haiti.

In Monticello, boys basketball coach Chris Russo, along with Washingtonville’s Todd Rose, raised money in the “Barefoot for Bare Feet” fundraiser for Samaritan’s Feet ((www.samaritansfeet.org)), which is committed to providing foot protection to some of the 300 million children worldwide who do not own a pair of shoes. People texted 89544 to have $5 dollars charged to their cell phone bills for the cause. Each five-dollar donation would result in the purchase of a pair of shoes. Over $250 dollars were collected in donations, excluding the unknown amount garnered from texting. Russo and O’Neill coach Debbi Crowe continued the fundraiser at the Monticello game in Highland Falls on January 15.

Monticello and Liberty, both in need of wins to shore up their bids for sectionals, played each other in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Sullivan County Community College on January 19. See next week’s paper for more on the game and that fundraising effort.

Sullivan West’s boys team finally got its first win with a commanding 76-43 win over The Family School on January 15. RJ Rosa had 31 points in the inaugural victory. Meanwhile, Tri-Valley’s boys and girls continued their winning ways. The boys ran their streak to four with wins over The Family School (62-39), Roscoe (77-41), and Eldred (41-31). Meanwhile, the Lady Bears extended its win streak to five and ran its record to 9-3 by beating Family 63-32, Roscoe 54-33 and handing Eldred its second non-league loss of the season (59-31) in a battle of Division IV and V teams unbeaten in league play.

Tri-Valley traveled to play reigning Class C champion Tuxedo on January 19 in a battle for division supremacy.

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