Regardless of what happens in the final three games of the regular season, or if there’s a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020, the 2024-25 season for the Carey boys’ basketball team has been a resounding success.
“I honestly feel like we are playing at such a great level right now,” first-year head coach Laurence Reid said. “From what the team was last year, to what they are this year, it is leaps and bounds above what I was expecting. They’re playing hard, they’re playing with such effort.”
The Seahawks are 8-9, 5-6 in AA-4 this season. That’s double the number of wins than the last three years combined. And that’s special for the seniors who endured a 1-win season last year to finally get to experience some success.
“All coaches say it, but I really enjoy these guys. It’s part of the reason why I took the job,” Reid said. “I knew the guys and I really liked them and they’ve embraced me and I’ve embraced them, and it’s been a great experience, so I’m over the moon for them just to get that taste of winning.”
What’s been the secret sauce for Carey? It’s not that much of a secret at all.
“I say it every day, I say it every halftime. I don’t care what the scoreboard says. I just care about effort,” Reid said. “If you can give a hard effort the whole time, then we’ll see what happens. Only good things come from that. I don’t care about wins and losses as much as I care about effort. That’s been my mantra and from day one they’ve been responsive to it.”
Kevin Colvin is one of the leaders, but the senior guard went down with an injury against Garden City on Jan. 8. Helping fill that void has been junior Kelvin Persaud, a hybrid who brings grit and toughness from the football field where he helped lead the Seahawks to the Long Island Championship in the fall.
Senior David Yussuf brings it defensively every game and Jack Degnan is a senior post player who has done well rebounding the ball and scoring inside.
Junior Ryan Kunkel is “all effort and all heart,” according to Reid, and regularly guards the opponent’s best offensive player, and senior Ethan Subero has carved out a role as a super sub. In a come-from-behind 40-39 win at Division on Jan. 24, Subero sparked Carey with 13 points off the bench.
The math for Carey down the stretch is simple — two wins in the final three games and the Seahawks book their spot in the playoffs. It would be a nice reward for their hard work and effort, but Reid said that will not define their season this year.
“I know we’re at the end of the season where everyone’s kind of talking playoff push and all that, it’d be great, obviously,” Reid said. “But, I’m so thrilled with how they’ve been playing.”
