Thursday, October 1, 2026
Days after rallying from 13 points down to defeat Port Washington for the Nassau County Class AAA boys’ basketball title, Baldwin again faced that same deficit in the first quarter of the Long Island championship — but the Bruins were unable to complete another comeback.
The Bruins never led against Bay Shore on Wednesday night at Farmingdale State College, but pulled within two points with just under nine seconds remaining before the Marauders sealed a 66–62 victory on two clutch free throws by leading scorer Corey Faines with 7.5 ticks left, ending Baldwin’s run as defending Long Island champions.
Bay Shore (20-4) also defeated Baldwin (21-3) in the 2024 Long Island championship game, earning the program its first title since 1981. The Marauders now advance to the Southeast Regional Final against Section I’s Mamaroneck on Saturday at Yorktown High School.
“It's Baldwin,” Bay Shore head coach Gary Williams said. “I told them they're not going to give up. They're too well coached. The kids are too tough. They're not going to give up. I expected nothing less than that. I knew that was going to happen.”
The 66 points allowed marked the Bruins’ second-highest total surrendered this season, trailing only the 72 they gave up in a 10-point non-conference win over Smithtown West in the season opener on Dec. 6. The loss also snapped Baldwin’s 16-game winning streak.
“We didn't play the defense that we've been playing for the whole season,” Bruins head coach Darius Burton said. “We just didn't get stops. Credit Bay Shore.”
Faines scored 13 of his game-high 25 points in the decisive first quarter, accounting for all but five of Bay Shore’s points in the opening eight minutes. The Marauders built their largest lead of the game during that stretch, going up 19–6 approaching the final minute before closing the period with a 21–9 advantage.
Faines added seven points in the second quarter but was limited to just two in the third, allowing Baldwin to slowly chip away at Bay Shore’s lead and trail by just four, 50–46, entering the final stanza. But 6-foot-8 Marauder senior Niall Haughney, who finished with 22 points, helped pick up the offensive slack by scoring six of his team’s first eight points of the fourth quarter, giving Bay Shore a 58–49 lead with just over four minutes remaining.
The game appeared to be out of reach for Baldwin as it faced a 64–56 deficit with 27.3 seconds left, but Mekhai St. Louime’s 3-pointer from the right corner ignited one final burst for the Bruins. Mical Saint Jean then intercepted a long inbound pass and was eventually fouled by Bay Shore, putting Baldwin in the bonus.
Saint Jean hit one free throw with 11.9 seconds left to make it 64–60, then intercepted another inbound pass and sank two more free throws to pull Baldwin within two. The Bruins nearly stole a third straight inbound pass, but it was deflected out of bounds.
“These guys never give up,” Burton said. “They play it to the last second. But unfortunately, we didn't get enough stops at the beginning of the game.”
Faines was fouled on Bay Shore’s ensuing possession and sank both free throws to ice the game.
“We always hit free-throws at the end of practice,” Faines said. “I knew our fate decided on our free-throw percentage. Usually, our free-throw percentage is kind of low. Today, we turned it up a whole notch.”
St. Jean hit five 3-pointers in the game and paced Baldwin with 28 points. Senior Jordan Williams scored 12, and Ethan Sainsbury added nine.
