Thursday, October 1, 2026
After heartbreaking narrow defeats at the hands of their top conference rivals, Elmont and Garden City, over a six-day period, it was important for the Sewanhaka girls’ basketball team to shake off the losses and get things back on track.
They did exactly that when they welcomed in intra-district rival Carey last Friday afternoon. Led by Kate Weinschreider’s career-high 14 points, Sewanhaka, which had four players score in double figures, cruised to a 73-41 victory.
Freshman Carly Bolivar and sophomore Cherish Francis each scored 13 points for the Lady Indians, who were playing without their leading scorer Destiny Hurt. Senior captain Brett Robison led the Lady Seahawks with 14 points.
Using a game plan designed to shut down Sewanhaka’s 6-foot senior Casey Hayes, Carey kept things close for a half. Hayes was held for just two points in the game’s first 16 minutes, and the Lady Indians held just a 32-22 lead at the break.
Sewanhaka head coach Alex Soupios made a few adjustments at the half that paid off. “They were packing it in to stop Casey, so I told her to look to her teammates when she’s getting doubled and tripled in the paint,” Soupios said. “To her credit, she did just that. She put her teammates in position to score, and they hit the open shots. Robison gave us fits in the first half, so we switched things up on defense, and showed them a bunch of different looks. We played very well in the second half.”
With Hurt sitting out and Hayes pretty much being contained, the Indians needed others to step up their game. Francis, sophomore Ashley Dann and freshman Flo Hunte (11 points) lit it up from the perimeter, and Weinschreider was a beast around the basket. The junior forward scored six straight points to cap off a 16-6 third quarter run. Weinschreider added nine rebounds.
Hayes, who ended up with scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds, was a force on defense and on the glass. She blocked five shots and pulled down four offensive rebounds in the third quarter as the Indians put the game away.
In the fourth quarter, Sewanhaka put on a shooting clinic from three-point land. Dann, who was scoreless for the first three quarters, hit on three of four attempts from long range, and Hunte buried a pair from behind the three-point line as well. The Lady Indians improved to 8-5 overall (6-2 in Conference A-I).
“We’ve been talking about the need to play all four quarters, and how important it is to get everyone involved when we have the ball,” Soupios said. “We were unselfish and shared the ball. Kate Weinschreider was relentless today. With Casey drawing so much attention, we needed her to take her game to that level. We’re getting close to where we need to be late in the season.”
The Lady Indians will welcome in Jericho this Saturday at noon. Sewanhaka won 76-47 when the teams met in December.
