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Mostly Cloudy Carey can't find consistency
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Carey's Terrance Murchie goes up over Baldwin's Ashanti DePass for two of his 21 points in a 66-42 Conference AA-I defeat on Feb. 4.
Frank Koester/Herald
Coming into the 2009-10 season, Carey coach Marty Kelly knew his team would be in for quite a challenge.
Competing in Nassau Conference AA-I with the likes of perennial powers Uniondale and Baldwin, along with Farmingdale, Valley Stream Central, Port Washington and Hempstead, means a battle each night.
While it has been a season filled with agonizing defeats, Kelly and the Seahawks hoped to bottle up their 50-46 non-league victory over West Hempstead on Jan. 31 and bring the same game to the Class AA playoffs. Senior Terrance Murchie had a game-high 32 points to lead Carey, which finished sixth in the seven-team conference. The game was part of the John Salvo Classic, a seven-game marathon played at Adelphi University in honor of a New York basketball legend, who passed away in 2009. Senior point guard Steven Matthew added eight points and four assists.
“This was a nice win for us,” Kelly said. “Going into the stretch run of the regular season, we need to become more consistent, and have other guys to step up on offense. Hopefully, we can start to put things together before the playoffs and get on a little roll.”
One player Kelly has been able to count on all season is Murchie. The 6-4 guard has been one of the county’s top performers, averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds per game. The Mercy college-bound senior has averaged 28 points per contest over Carey’s last five games, including a career-high 37 in a 61-53 win over Freeport in the Martin Luther King Day Tournament. Murchie was named tourney MVP.
Kelly is impressed with Murchie’s play, especially of late. “Terrance has been great,” Kelly said. “He’s gotten a lot stronger, and can score inside or outside. For the past three weeks or so, he’s been absolutely dominating games.” Murchie has hit 36 three-point baskets for the season, including a season-high six treys in the win over Freeport.
Joe Champy has also enjoyed some strong games. The senior guard has averaged eight points per contest, including a 14-point effort in a recent loss to defending Nassau Class AA champion Uniondale. Champey had a season-high 17 points in a loss to Hempstead. Kelly also lauded the improvement made by 6-7 junior James Klein, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
If Carey is going to make noise in the postseason, it will need to get more from Murchie’s supporting cast. “We don’t have a lot of depth, but we have shown we have the talent to compete with the top teams,” Kelly said. “If we can play as a team, at a tempo that we can compete at, we have a chance.”
The Seahawks, who slipped to 2-9 in Conference AA-I after a loss to Baldwin on Feb. 4, host Massapequa in a first-round playoff game on Saturday.
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