By TONY BELLISSIMO
Last Saturday brought another magical playoff moment on the same court he hit game-winning baskets against Uniondale and Half Hollow Hills West a year ago to give the Bruins Nassau and Long Island Class AA titles. This time, Hempstead was victimized.
Mauldin’s 25-foot three-pointer with 2.9 seconds left gave No. 3 Baldwin a 48-46 semifinal victory over the second-seeded Tigers and moved it one step closer to defending the county championship. The Bruins meet top-seeded Uniondale in the final on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Old Westbury.
“I thought it was good as soon as I let it go,” said Mauldin, who scored 13 of his game-high 22 points over the final 8:41 as Baldwin rallied from a 41-30 deficit. “It feels great.”
Trailing 46-45 with 54 seconds remaining after Hempstead’s Jihad Ceaser hit a turnaround jumper in the lane, Mauldin missed a long three-pointer but junior Ashanti DePass grabbed the rebound and the Bruins (14-6) had the rest of the clock to work with. Baldwin coach Darius Burton called a timeout with 15 seconds to go and put the season in the hands of No. 24.
“We set up a pick-and-roll for Mr. Big Shot,” Burton said, referring to 5-foot-10 Mauldin, who began his playoff heroics as a sophomore when he nailed the winning shot against then six-time defending county champion Uniondale in the semifinals. “We only needed a two, but the way the play developed he had no choice but to let it fly. They came out to defend him. I’m not surprised it went in. Some people don’t believe me when I tell them how talented he is.”
Mauldin spent the last week of the regular season on crutches due to an ankle injury and didn’t return to practice until the day before the team’s 72-55 quarterfinal round victory over Great Neck South on Feb. 18. He had 19 points, six assists, three rebounds and a couple of steals in what Burton said was his most complete game of the season.
Baldwin’s offense went ice cold in the third quarter against Hempstead after DePass scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half to help the Bruins take a 26-22 lead. Ceaser and Mauldin traded baskets to open the second half and then Terrell Williams (17 points) led a 17-2 Tigers run that put them up by 11 with less than a minute to go in the third.
“We’ve had problems in the third quarter all season long,” Burton said. “I told the kids they needed to bring it in the fourth or we were going home.”
Sophomore T’Ziah Wood-Smith added five points and 14 rebounds for Baldwin, which split a pair of games with Hempstead during the regular season.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
