Seahawks crank up the pressure

The Seahawks return to Nassau Conference A2 at the start of a new team cycle – having graduated seven seniors this summer and all of last season’s starters, including the league’s second-leading scorer Chris Toscano and fellow All-Conference honoree James Cosgrove.

Carey comes off its best season thus far under fifth-year head coach Steve Savino, going 7-1 in A2 – its only loss coming against undefeated league rival Elmont, which also stopped the Seahawks’ last playoff bid in the second round before taking the Nassau Class A title in 2019-20.

With four returning seniors and a junior up from JV set to start, Carey has no plans to fool with the system that yielded the league’s top defense and its No. 2 offense. “No change, nothing new at all,” Savino said. “Doing what we always do. We like to press, like to try to generate points from pressure. We play good, hard defense.”

Swiss army senior Amoi Charles will start off with the keys, toggling between front- and backcourt duties, while high-upside junior Nick Broas takes over at small forward and sharpshooting senior Alex Amache starts at off guard.

“Amoi can play any position on the court and does it well,” Savino said. “He handles the ball and shoots very well, plays good defense and rebounds very good. Nick’s a very hard-working player. He can shoot the ball very well, and handles the ball very well. Alex can shoot the ball and play excellent defense.”

Guards Jayden McLeod and Ryan Noonan will start or see heavy rotation, while fellow senior Ryan Degnan starts at power forward.

The Seahawks will tangle with Elmont, Calhoun, Glen Cove, Sewanhaka, Roslyn and Garden City in conference play.

“The players are very hard-working and they want to learn,” Savino said. “Our goal is always to qualify for the playoffs. That’s what we’re doing with this team, and we’ll see what happens.