Baldwin wins fourth straight county title

Even on a day when Baldwin was far from its best, it was good enough.

The top-seeded Lady Bruins overcame shooting woes and uncharacteristic turnovers, relying on their shutdown defense, and defeated No. 2 Massapequa, 37-29, to capture a fourth straight Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball championship Saturday afternoon at Hofstra.

Baldwin, which trailed halftime for the first time all season, allowed only 10 points in the second half on the way to winning its seventh county title in the last eight seasons. Each of its starters scored at least six points, with senior Montia Moon and junior Aziah Hudson leading the way with eight apiece. Massapequa freshman Gabriella Heimbauer had a game-high 10 points, while junior Kathleen Doherty added nine.

“Our defense won this championship,” Lady Bruins head coach Tom Catapano said. “We struggled to put the ball in the basket even though we had a lot of open looks, but we never stopped playing defense. I’m really happy and proud we found a way to win when we didn’t play our best basketball, and that’s the sign of a really good team.”

Baldwin (18-3) will try for its third Long Island Class AA championship under Catapano next Saturday when it faces Central Islip at SUNY-Old Westbury at 2:30 p.m. Hudson said the Lady Bruins are hungry to take another step after dropping the past two L.I. title games to Commack.

“Defense is always our top priority,” said Hudson, who in January became the program’s all-time leading scorer. “As long as we won by a point today, that’s all that matters,” she added. “Now we’ll hopefully win Long Island and go upstate.”

Hudson put Baldwin ahead for good — 20-19 — seconds into the third quarter on a layup after junior Jenna Annecchiarico (six points, six steals) stole the Lady Chiefs’ inbounds pass to begin the second half. Senior Sarah Pulis, sophomore Kaia Harrison and Moon all hit shots during a nine-point spurt over a span of six minutes that also saw Massapequa held scoreless.

“I told the girls at halftime, they were going to remember this game for the rest of their lives one reason or another,” Catapano said. “They work so hard and they definitely didn’t want the season to end today.”

Baskets by Doherty and Heimbauer cut Baldwin’s lead to 27-23 after three quarters, and the Lady Chiefs were still within four with 21.7 seconds remaining in regulation before Pulis and senior Nadia Elcock each knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the outcome.

“We know we have to play 100 percent better next week against Central Islip,” Catapano said. “We’ll enjoy this one for a few days and get back to work in the gym on Monday.”