Thursday, October 1, 2026
Carey’s girls basketball team is going through a rough patch as the season nears a close, currently 4-11, but hope is not lost. Least of all not in the eyes of their head coach, who sees the hard work the Seahawks pour in day in and day out.
“I have 16 of the greatest kids and I truly mean that. They’re hard workers,” said head coach Anthony Turco. "We're struggling right now but they play hard for each other, they play hard when they step on the court.”
Carey’s most recent win, 52-45, came over Elmont Jan. 14. Andrea Arias and Miracle Heredia-White lead the scoring with 10 points each. Daisy Buja and Ophelin Lin poured in 8 points each. Isabella Giordano added 6 points and Aria Agcaian put up 5 with the team’s only made three-pointer.
Wins are fun, but Carey’s defense is its calling card, and for a number of reasons. Turco highlighted Buja, a sophomore, in her on-court efforts.
“She takes things personally in the sense of, she was a ninth grader last year playing on varsity, her athleticism, her will is something that’s going to drive her to be successful in the future,” Turco said of Buja. “The confidence to shoot the ball, she had zero confidence in shootin gthe ball last year, now she’ll try to break somebody down and shoot the basket, that’s how confident she is, and it’s impressive. It’s impressive to watch her play.”
There’s also Sophia Cavaliere, who Turco desecribed as fierce on the defensive side of the ball. Turco didn’t have to vouch for her, he said that Cavaliere’s actions speak for themselves when he assigned her Elmont’s best offense player, Kayla Latiff, someone they scouted to typically post 14-16 points per game. Cavaliere held her assignment to just 6 points.
Generally, the Seahawks have been going through a rough patch lately, on a six-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 17. That doesn’t mean the squad has thrown in the towel and began sulking in defeat, not by any means, according to Turco.
“When a team is not successful the way we are right now, you would think they would pack it in and not play hard,” Turco said. “One thing I say, I’m not going to stop coaching until the last horn of the last game, and I don’t expect them to stop playing.”
Turco wants to see the offense improve. It’s not wholly absent, it’s just not stable.
“We communicate well, we switch defensively, when we press, we press pretty well, we anticipate things well, we [force] turnovers,” according to Turco. “We’re working hard in practice, with shooting drills, challenging each other, unfortunately it’s just not turning over into the game.”
There’s plenty Turco juggles in his mind on every possession: player communication, player experience or lack thereof, but most importantly, how intensely the girls push themselves on the hardwood.
“They play hard for each other, and that’s something that is impressive by them. They ‘say’ by their play,” Turco said.
