STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— The Curtis Warriors showed no signs of rust in their first PSAL game in 17 days on Monday evening, rolling to a 60–10 rout of visiting Stuyvesant to improve their league record to 6–2.
Curtis’ defense was suffocating all night, only allowing a measly four points heading into the final quarter before Stuyvesant cracked double digits. Speaking on the team’s massive defensive effort, head coach Talia Sutton said that “We truly believe defense wins games. Our offense is going to come—we’re a really young team—but defense has to be constant.”
“As long as we keep working on ourselves, we’ll get better with each game, each practice, each competition. We’ve really been focusing on our man-to-man defense, worked on it all break, and got a chance to show it today. Hopefully it helps us in future games,” she went on.
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Curtis vs. Stuyvesant
To Sutton’s point, no single Warrior took over offensively, as Curtis leaned on a balanced attack, with three players reaching double figures—Alina Starodubenko (11), Leandra Hamilton (10), and Kathryn Karounos (10)—to share the scoring load.
Sutton emphasized that the offensive performance against Stuyvesant “was a group effort that allowed everybody to get a bit of shine,” while singling out Karounos’ two-way play in particular.
“She’s very competitive and can score inside and out, so she’s always a confident scorer when she’s making her shots, which is wonderful for us. She’s also been working on her defense because she wants to be a two-way player, and I’m proud of her,” Sutton said of her freshman guard.
“We moved the ball well today, and she got some offensive rebounds and steals, which helped her on the offensive end. When she plays good defense and works hard, her offense is much better, and I’m happy she played as well as she did.”
The lopsided win should go a long way for the Warriors as they prepare to host Tottenville (5–0 in league play) in a big rematch on Tuesday, after the Pirates claimed a 74–47 victory in their first meeting. Sutton shared that “we need the win.”
“We lost a tough one to Summit over the break that we didn’t anticipate, but this one should help boost the girls’ morale. We know tomorrow will be tougher—it’s also a chance for redemption. We’re a young team, but the adjustments we’ve worked on over the break should help us this time around. Tottenville is always a rival, and we expect a competitive game,” she shared.
While it’s difficult to nitpick any aspect of a 50-point win, Sutton conceded there are still areas to clean up heading into Tuesday, particularly on the glass and defensively.
Curtis head coach Talia Sutton talks with guard Leandra Hamilton during a matchup against Stuyvesant on Jan. 5, 2026.Michael O’Brien
“We need to do better on the offensive boards and improve our off-ball and help defense. We’ll look at it on film, talk about it in timeouts and after the game tomorrow, and focus on getting better,” she concluded.
Tuesday’s highly anticipated rematch between the first and second-place teams in the 4A Staten Island division is set to tip off at Curtis at 6 p.m.