Thursday, October 1, 2026
Baldwin head coach Darius Burton had a good feeling about his team’s chances against Westbury after watching senior Shane Gatling shoot warmups as more than 3,000 fans packed LIU Post for last Saturday night’s Nassau Class AA boys’ basketball championship game.
“He was making everything, and the shots weren’t even touching the rim,” Burton said. “I turned to my assistant [Jon Henry] and said, ‘Shane’s in a zone tonight and is going to put on a show.’”
Gatling came out firing, and scored all 25 of his points in the first half, including five three-pointers, as the top-seeded Bruins cruised to their second straight county title and their fourth in the last five years, 65-49. Juniors Jared Rhoden (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Zion Stephens (10, 8) provided plenty of support for Gatling, who went 10 for 19 from the field.
“It feels great,” said Gatling, who scored 14 of Baldwin’s 16 second-quarter points, including a step-back trey at the buzzer to give the Bruins a 35-18 halftime lead. “I’ve been a little off from the three-point line most of the season, but I felt comfortable in warmups, and told my teammates I wanted the ball.”
Unfortunately, Gatling served more as a decoy than anything else in the second half, with his shooting hand bandaged following a celebration mishap in the locker room at halftime. He was chest-bumped off-balance and cut his hand on some glass, but he said he would be fine for this Sunday’s Long Island Class AA championship game against Half Hollow Hills West at LIU Post at 3:30 p.m.
“I was a little concerned, not knowing how much Shane could do in the second half after Westbury got within seven in the third quarter,” Burton said. “But we were able to go on a run, and I remember Jabeon [Bivins] hitting a big three that helped us relax.”
It was 37-30 before the Bruins (21-1) scored nine of the final 11 points of the third quarter to stretch the margin to 14. Bivins followed baskets by senior Justin Caldwell and Stephens with a trey from the corner to cap a 7-0 spurt. Then, after Khalid Ketchen stopped the bleeding for the Green Dragons, Stephens closed the quarter with a highlight-reel left-handed slam dunk off a rebound.
“Zion’s so athletic,” Burton said of Stephens. “He stepped up tremendously. His offensive game has really come on lately.”
Westbury, the No. 2 seed, was unable to shave the margin under double digits at any point in the fourth quarter. High-scoring juniors Jonathan Dean and Darius Young were held to 14 and 10 points, respectively, and combined to shoot 9 for 29 from the field. “Containing those two was our biggest concern,” Burton said. “I thought we did an excellent job defensively.”
The Bruins, who were a combined 42 of 56 from the line in playoff victories over Valley Stream Central and Massapequa, made 7 of 9 free throws down the stretch to put Westbury away.
“We have to play the same way we did tonight against Hills West,” Gatling said.
