Memorable start for Baldwin

With three straight Nassau Class AA championships and six of the last seven under head coach Tom Catapano, there’s been plenty of jubilation for Baldwin’s girls’ basketball program in late February and early March in recent years.

This season, the Lady Bruins have done some celebrating before the calendar flipped to the New Year with impressive team and individual accomplishments in December. “We’ve had quite a start,” Catapano said.

Junior guard Aziah Hudson reached the 1,000-point milestone for her career and inched closer to becoming the program’s all-time scoring leader in a conference-opening victory over East Meadow on Dec. 20. Eight days later, Baldwin defeated four-time defending state champion Ossining, which hadn’t lost to a public school opponent in nearly five years.

“We put a lot of emphasis on the Ossining game,” Catapano said. “The girls treated it as a business trip. Ossining won 88 in a row against public schools, so it’s probably the biggest win we’ve ever had. It takes years of hard work to beat a team of that caliber.”

Junior guard Jenna Annecchiarico poured in a career-high 35 points and played a key role along with Hudson (21 points) and sophomore Kaia Harrison (14) in the press-break to lead the Lady Bruins past Ossining, 83-73, in the first round of the Slam Dunk Challenge at Westchester County Center on Dec 28. UConn-bound star Andra Espinoza-Hunter led the Pride with 28 points, but that was about 16 off her average according to Catapano.

“I thought we did a great job limiting Espinoza-Hunter,” Catapano said. “We thought it we could keep her around 30, we’d have a real shot. We were mixing and matching defenses, and Montia [Moon] and Jenna were tremendous.”

Annecchiarico, who missed Baldwin’s 60-50 win over Urseline in the tournament final the next day because of a fever, had six three-pointers, six field goals and five free throws against Ossining. Hudson (19), Harrison (17), Kayla Brown (12) and Nadia Elcock (10) all scored in double figures against Urseline to pick up the slack.  

Hudson was named MVP of the Slam Dunk Challenge, capping a memorable week-and-a-half for the slick guard who became the team’s second 1,000-point scorer on Dec. 20 in the opening quarter of an 80-37 triumph over East Meadow at home. With 143 points over the first six games, Hudson moved within 41 of surpassing Karin Byrnes (Class of 1989) for the top spot on the program’s all-time scoring list.

“It shows what an outstanding player Aziah’s been throughout her career,” Catapano said. “She’s been on varsity since seventh grade, and to think she’s got almost two full seasons ahead of her is scary.”

Hudson scored 34 points to lead Baldwin past Kings Park, 84-51, in its host Chanee Brown Memorial Tournament on Dec. 26. It was one of four games held on the Lady Bruins’ court that day. Hudson is expected to break the all-time scoring record this Friday against visiting Hicksville in a Conference AA-II matchup. Tip-off is 7 p.m.