By TONY BELLISSIMO
Devon McMillan's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer gave Uniondale a stunning 53-52 victory over the Bruins in the Nassau Class AA boys' basketball championship game last Saturday night before 2,500 spectators at SUNY-Old Westbury, adding another chapter to arguably the best high school sports rivalry in the county.
The title-winning shot came from about the same distance-25 feet-and through the same rim Baldwin's Chris Mauldin swished a trey to stun Hempstead in the closing seconds of a semifinal game a week earlier. Dane Dixon rebounded a missed free throw by the Bruins with 5.6 seconds left and got the ball to McMillan, who dribbled twice on each side of midcourt before burying the long jumper.
"I've been fortunate enough to be on the winning end of a buzzer beater many times as a player and coach," Baldwin coach Darius Burton said. "Experiencing the other side is tough. The kids played their hearts out and executed the game plan to perfection. Time heals all wounds, but it's going to take a while to get over this one."
McMillan scored 12 points to lead the top-seeded Knights, who lost playoff games to the Bruins in each of the past two seasons including last year's final. Dixon had eight points and 17 rebounds while sharpshooter Justin Brown was held to eight points. Mauldin poured in a game-high 26 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
"Chris was the best player on the court tonight," Burton said of Mauldin, who totaled 67 points in three playoff games. "He made play after play. I'm not surprised because he always comes up big in big games. He had a great career. It's a shame it ended the way it did."
Uniondale appeared poised to make quick work of the third-seeded Bruins, who had trouble keeping rebounds out of Dixon's hands in the first half. The Knights held a seven-point lead after the first quarter and were up 20-10 early in the second before Burton's team got its act together. "We gave them too many chances early," Burton said. "We ended up using all of our defenses and switched on and off all game. We tried to make them as uncomfortable as possible and I thought we did a nice job."
Mauldin drained a pair of threes in the second and fellow senior Bernard Desilus added a late basket to cut the difference to four by halftime. Baldwin (14-6) closed within 40-39 after getting points from five players in the third quarter, including all of junior Donte Howell's seven on the night, and took its first lead with 6:37 remaining in the game on junior Jordan Menzies-Taylor's layup.
The fourth quarter featured six lead changes. Uniondale jumped ahead 49-48 on a three by Brown and led by two with less than two minutes left when Mauldin's driving layup tied it. The Bruins regained the lead with 1:04 to go as Mauldin coolly knocked down two free throws, and for 63 seconds it seemed like they'd repeat.
"McMillan hit a heck of a shot," Burton said.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
