Balance leads Baldwin's success

Baldwin continued its march towards a fourth consecutive Conference AA-II boys’ basketball regular-season crown, knocking off East Meadow, 75-36, last Saturday afternoon.

The name of the game remains balance for the Bruins (12-1 overall, 10-0 Conference AA-II), who had four players score at least 10 points, led by sophomore Shane Gatling’s 13, and a dozen players in all score. “One of the best qualities of this unit and every unit we’ve had is that they’re very deep,” coach Darius Burton said. “I’m very happy with our bench. When they come in there’s no let down. We tell each individual to do what they do best.”

The win gave Baldwin no worse than a share of the conference crown. One more win in either of the last two Conference AA-II games makes it an outright title, and a pair of wins would guarantee the program the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Nassau Class AA playoffs set to begin on Feb. 15.

Gatling remained on his recent tear, which has included 13 three-pointers and 65 points in the last three games, and added three rebounds and five assists last Saturday. As a team Baldwin had 21 assists, led by senior captain Myking Richardson, the Nassau County leader in the category (6.7 per game), who upped his total with eight. “We know we can score,” Burton said. “But [we tell the kids] if you have a good shot but someone has a better shot, get him the ball. We try to preach that in practice. Make the extra pass.”

Switching up their defenses throughout the game, Baldwin slowly, but steadily, took control and increased its lead after each quarter. Playing without their point guard and leading scorer (Cody Zafran), the Jets were outscored in every quarter, and had just 16 points in the second half (four in the fourth quarter). “We played well in the first half without Cody, we just couldn’t score enough,” East Meadow coach Barry Dickson said.

A relentless three-point attack, a strength of Baldwin’s all season, continued against not only the Jets, who were hit with 10 from behind the arc, but also Valley Stream Central, which suffered a 79-70 loss to the Bruins one night earlier and also watched 10 from downtown go through the net. “The kids came ready to play,” Burton said, noting the Bruins scored 25 points in the first quarter. “Gatling hit three three-pointers to really get us going. Everything we did, we executed [well].”

Gatling had a career-high 29 points, 15 of them on three-pointers, while Richardson nearly had a quadruple-double (and posted his second triple-double) with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 steals and eight assists. Junior Paul Nosworthy, among the top rebounders in Nassau County, again hit double figures in the category (10), and junior Nick Dievul led the way with 11. “I’m very proud of him [Richardson],” Burton said. “It’s the first year I’ve really asked him to be a point guard and he just rises to the occasion.”