Thursday, October 1, 2026
Defense has been a staple for Baldwin during each of its last two runs to the Nassau County Class AA girls' basketball championships, and the Lady Bruins proved once again it had a place in their run to the finals.
The two-time defending champions kept No. 4 Uniondale off the scoreboard for the final 2:55 of Tuesday's semifinal matchup at Oyster Bay High School and made a single free-throw by senior Amber Harrison stand up in a 36-35 win.The Lady Bruins (18-1 overall), advanced to the championship game for the third straight season and look to defend their title against No. 2 Massapequa Saturday at C.W. Post. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Lady Knights freshman Sakara Hester-Torres, who led the team with 13 points, had an opportunity for one last full-court dash with seven seconds left, but after bobbling the ball coming across halfcourt, her shot from just off the free-throw line clanged off the rim. The frantic finish capped a wild see-saw defensive battle that featured nine lead changes.
Baldwin was led on both ends of the court by senior point guard Alex Hampton (14 points, six rebounds, five steals), but the efforts of junior Chelsea May (three points, eight rebounds and a block) and freshman Jade Aponte (three points, three steals) off the bench. When Hampton went to the bench with three fouls late in the second quarter, Aponte picked a steal and added a three-pointer. She also set up Hampton for a layup with a perfect baseline bounce pass to that gave the Bruins a 33-29 edge in the fourth quarter.
