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Friday, March 15, 2019
Vol. 7, No. 11
COUNTY GOP SEEKS ELECTED ASSESSOR
NORTHWELL RALLIES FOR MEDICAID
CURRAN SEEKS TO OPT-OUT ON WEED
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Basketball team takes L.I., preps for semis Team sets eyes on first state title since 1986 BY T E R I W EST
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIA MASTANDO
Manhasset’s senior starters celebrate their Long Island victory at Sunday.
For the second time in school history, Manhasset Secondary School’s boys’ basketball team will compete in the state semifinals, after an 85-69 victory Sunday at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum. The team, led by five senior starters, took on Wyandanch High School Sunday for the Nassau Class A Long Island Championship. After a four-point deficit at the end of the first quarter, Manhasset began gaining on Wyandanch. They then finished strong, outscoring Wyandach by 12 more points in the fourth quarter. “The county was one thing because we won coun-
ties in 2011, and that was like the fourth time, but this is a whole other level of history for Manhasset,” said senior starter John Mastando. The team will take on Poughkeepsie at Binghamton’s Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday. Sophomore Ahmad Crowell said he anticipates a close game given the stakes. “It’s going to be a good game because both teams made it this far,” Crowell said. “I’m not saying we’re going to lose, though.” The game is the penultimate step to winning the state championship. The last time Manhasset did so was in 1986, said coach George Bruns. A crowd turned out to sup-
port the team at the coliseum Sunday, Mastando said. Manhasset had prepared to challenge Wyandanch’s strategy, which relies heavily on three-pointers, he said. But Manhasset also played efficient offense, which helped it achieve its victory. Senior Tom Santella had the team’s scoring high of 21 points. This year’s group thrives on teamwork, Bruns said. The players are not the tallest, and no single player is routinely a standout, he said. “It’s a team that you never know where the offense is coming from, but there’s always somebody there to pick up the pace,” said Bruns. Continued on Page 57
Francis McQuade to challenge Singas BY T E R I W EST
along with a slate of other Republican candidates challenging Lawyer Francis “Frank” Mc- incumbent Democratic county Quade has announced his bid for and town officials. McQuade is one of several Nassau County district attorney
Republican candidates entering his first ever bid for political office. Newcomer David Yaudoon Chiang will challenge town Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey for North Hempstead’s District 4 seat and Ragini Srivastava will face District 2’s Peter Zuckerman. David P. Redmond, who challenged Town of North
Hempstead Clerk Wayne Wink in 2017, is running for town supervisor. Port Washington’s Ronald Rochester is running for receiver of taxes. He staged an unsuccessful bid for Port Washington police commissioner in 2015, and according to his website, is a retired U.S. Department of Treasury special agent and spent
over a quarter century in law enforcement. “They’re excited to be running,” District 6 Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio said of the North Hempstead Republican candidates. “They’re excited to be involved, and I think it’s a really quality ticket.” Dina De Giorgio, a RepubliContinued on Page 57
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