Middletown stops Baldwin in state semis

A third trip to the New York State Class AA boys’ basketball Final Four under head coach Darius Burton wasn’t a charm for Baldwin.

The Bruins, coming off their third Long Island championship in nine years, couldn’t slow down Middletown last Saturday afternoon and saw their season end with a 77-64 semifinal defeat at the Glens Falls Civic Center. It was the most points allowed all season by Baldwin, which finished with a program-record 22 wins against two defeats.

Senior Shane Gatling dazzled in the second half of his high school finale, scoring 23 of his game-high 29 points after halftime. Junior Jared Rhoden, who fouled out soon after the Bruins cut Middletown’s lead to 62-60 midway through the fourth quarter, added 16 points. Junior point guard Jabeon Bivins added seven.

“We came in allowing an average of 48 points,” Burton said. “We just couldn’t get the stops we needed. Jared carried us in the first half, and Shane did whatever he could to keep us in it in the second half.”

The Bears, who closed the game on a 15-4 run, were led by Jordan Bryan’s 19 points and 14 rebounds. Kyle Brown poured in a team-leading 22 points, and Ken Middleton added 10 points and eight boards.

“We knew how athletic they were,” Burton said. “We didn’t defend or rebound as well as we normally do, but Middletown deserves credit. We got back in the game with our full-court, man-to-man press, but they pulled away down the stretch.”

The Bruins trailed 12-11 after the opening quarter but faced a 10-point halftime deficit. During intermission, Burton said he challenged Gatling to step up his game as he did during the run to Nassau County and L.I. titles. “Shane responded like I knew he would,” Burton noted.

Gatling keyed an 11-0 spurt in the third quarter that knotted the game at 49. The Bears stopped the bleeding and took a 51-49 lead into the fourth, and found another gear down the stretch to advance to the final against Aquinas Institute.  

Aquinas Institute (Rochester) beat Baldwin in the state semis four years ago. The Bruins’ 2007-08 campaign ended with a semifinal loss to Niagara Falls.

“We have nothing to be ashamed of,” Burton said. “We won the most games in program history and were ranked as high as No. 4 in the state in the AAs.”