Thursday, October 1, 2026
By the time Baldwin hit its first jumper of the game, with 2:36 remaining in the first quarter, the top-seeded Lady Bruins were already well on their way to clinching a third straight Nassau County Class AA girls’ basketball championship, which they did by knocking off No. 2 Massapequa, 57-37, last Saturday night at Adelphi University.
Curious as that may sound, Baldwin (20-2) didn’t need much of a perimeter game, or even a mid-range game, because it had already run out to an 11-4 lead thanks to aggressive work in the paint. The Lady Bruins’ first five baskets were layups on drives to the hoop — with a free-throw tossed in for good measure — and they were playing their usual stifling defense.
“They were hungry for this one,” head coach Tom Catapano said of his team, which advanced to face defending Long Island champion Commack at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday at St. Joseph’s College, and has now won six of the last seven Nassau Class AA crowns.
Sophomore Aziah Hudson nearly outscored the Lady Chiefs on her own, piling up a game-high 34 points on an array of drives to the hoops, three-pointers (three) and free throws (five). “My first step I use as my advantage,” Hudson said of catching defenders on their heels.
Seemingly unstoppable anytime she had the ball, Hudson scored 13 of Baldwin’s 17 first-quarter points, scored her team’s last eight of the second quarter and personally had more points — 21 — than Massapequa at halftime. After a pair of free throws by Melanie Hingher closed the gap to 21-15 with 1:49 left in the half, Hudson went back to work on the offensive end. She converted a layup and free throw, then drained a three-pointer and ended the run with a layup that pushed the lead back up to double digits, 29-17.
“[Aziah] doing what she’s doing as only a sophomore shows how talented she really is,” Catapano said. “Special players have special games. Her first step is different, even at the highest level, and every year she’s added something. [With the three-point shot], you can’t [play] off of her.”
While Hudson was lighting up the scoreboard in the first quarter, the Lady Bruins’ defense was making sure Massapequa had few, if any, good looks at the other basket. After the Lady Chiefs pulled within 5-4, the closest they would get the entire game, their offense went 10 possessions without scoring a single point, as Baldwin forced a variety of turnovers (eight) and a pair of missed field-goal attempts. “Our team defense is very unstoppable,” Hudson said. “We like to scramble, play gritty and get after it.”
Coming out of the intermission, sophomore Jenna Anneccharico hit a pair of three-pointers on her way to 11 points, while junior Montia Moon provided strong rebounding (five), defense (two steals) and deft passing and also added a key three-pointer in the second quarter, when Massapequa closed the gap to 17-11 with a 5-point run on a pair of baskets and a free throw.
“Montia is the unsung hero,” Catapano said of Moon. “She doesn’t score a lot, but she does all the little things you need to win a championship.”
