Baldwin preps for title defense

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With the Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball playoffs just a few weeks away, three-time defending county champion Baldwin is working to get all its ducks in a row to make another long postseason run.

The Lady Bruins (12-3 overall) took a step towards securing another Conference AA-II crown last Saturday afternoon with a 72-27 victory at Valley Stream Central. With three games remaining in the regular season, they’re 8-for-8 against conference rivals with the closest margin at 18 points.

“Every game helps us prepare for the playoffs,” Baldwin head coach Tom Catapano said. “Our non-league schedule has been very difficult and we’ll look to get some scrimmages under our belt over the next few weeks.”

Though many of the team’s wins have come without stress, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the Lady Bruins. They had some turnovers down the stretch of a 68-61 setback to Bishop McNamara (Washington, D.C.) on Jan. 22, yielded 72 to Port Washington in a hard-fought conference triumph two days earlier, and lost starting senior center Jessica Pulis indefinitely to a shoulder injury in a loss to Mary Louis Academy on Jan. 15.

“We’re in a challenging stretch without Jessica,” Catapano said of Pulis, whose majority of minutes will go to senior Kayla Brown and Sarah Henry. “She’s such a key piece,” he added. “She does so much that doesn’t show up in a box score.”

That’s not the case with junior guard Aziah Hudson, who on Jan. 17 became the program’s all-time leading scorer. She had 14 points in the easy 78-21 win over Westbury and surpassed Karin Byrne (Class of 1989) atop the scoring list. Hudson, who reached 1,000 career points in December, came back with a career-high 44 points the following day when the Lady Bruins beat Port Washington in a high-scoring affair, 90-72.

“It’s fitting for Aziah to earn all the accolades,” Catapano said. “She’s always had the ability to put the ball in the basket. She makes tough shot after tough shot, especially in transition while drawing contact. She’s just explosive to the rim.”

Hudson’s performance against Port Washington was the most points scored by any player in Catapano’s eight-year tenure, he said. It’s unconfirmed whether it was a school record or not. Junior Jenna Annecchiarico added 22 points and sophomore Kaia Harrison had 11 in the win, while Port Washington had four in double figures led by Rebecca Rosen’s 22.

“I don’t think we’ve ever allowed more than 70 points in a conference game since I’m here,” Catapano said. “Port came ready to play and brought a lot of energy. They did a nice job against our press. It was a little bit of a wake-up call for us.”

Annecchiarico is averaging 18.2 points per game, second on the team behind Hudson’s 20.2, and has 28 three-pointers. Harrison averages just under 10 points.

The regular season concludes Feb. 10 with a home game versus Westbury at 7 p.m. Baldwin’s first playoff game will be in the quarterfinals at home 11 days later.