Denner leads Carey to victory

It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Seahawks will take it. After dropping its first four games, Carey got into the win column with a 41-29 victory over Long Beach last Friday in a Conference AA-III boys’ basketball game played at Island Garden in West Hempstead. 

Junior captain Adrian Denner scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, and senior James Harrison chipped in with nine points to lead Carey. Long Beach, which was led by junior Tyquan Scott’s 10 points, fell to 1-3 overall, 0-2 in conference play.

Carey head coach Marty Kelly is hopeful the victory will help get the Seahawks on the right track. “We didn’t play our best, but we’re very happy to get the win,” he said. “We struggled with our shooting, but our defense was excellent. Hopefully, this gets us going. If we get some players back from injuries, and our perimeter shooting improves, we can compete with anyone in our league.”

The Marines got off to a terrific start, running out to a quick 12-5 lead. Scott scored six consecutive points with a dunk, a baseline jumper, and a put back, and center Tariq Cole, who was having his way on the inside, scored the other six.  

But Denner scored eight points during an 11-0 Carey run to help give the Seahawks a 19-14 lead after the opening eight minutes. Denner finished the quarter with 13 points. Neither team could find the basket in the second quarter. Carey held a narrow 23-21 lead at the break.

The game turned in the third quarter as the Seahawks picked up the defensive intensity and made life difficult for Long Beach. Carey held the Marines scoreless in the quarter and led 34-21 as the teams took the floor for the final quarter. Despite ending its scoring drought, Long Beach never made a serious run. Tommy Gallant led Seahawks with 13 rebounds.

Carey, which hopes to have Andrew Ris and Nick Spillane back from injuries in the near future, has been close in all five games. “With a couple of breaks, we could easily be 3-2,” Kelly said. “It’s not like we’ve been getting blown out. They’ve all been tight games. Hopefully, the results change in the second half of the season.”

In an opening night 58-52 loss to West Hempstead, the Seahawks got 15 points from Harrison and 12 from sophomore Kieran Murchie. Carey looked to get things righted against a solid Great Neck South team, but wound up on the short end of a 50-49 decision. Denner scored a season-high 23 points in the loss.

Carey held a four-point lead at the half, but Bellmore-JFK rallied, hitting nine three-point baskets in the second half en route to a 59-44 win. Later in the week, Herricks got 22 points from senior Andrew Fellus in a 52-46 win. Denner scored 19 in a losing effort. 

Carey travels to Mepham this Friday for a 6:30 p.m. start.