Baldwin beats Floyd for L.I. title

The Bruins are headed to Glens Falls.

Trailing William Floyd by a point early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Long Island Class AA boys’ basketball championship game, Baldwin scored 10 straight to take control and went on to a 68-57 victory before a crowd of 3,000 at Hofstra.

Seniors Rashid Lesane (19), Brandon Williams (16) and Kirk Staine (15) all scored in double figures to lead the Bruins, who captured their second L.I. title in five years and advanced to play Aquinas or Niagara Falls in a state semifinal next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Glens Falls Civic Center.

“We all play together and we all want to win,” said Lesane, a transfer from Brooklyn Studio who sank three treys in the first half and chipped in five steals and five rebounds. “I knew this team was special from Day One.”

The Colonials, who got a game-high 20 points from senior Anthony White, trailed 14-7 after the first quarter but led by one midway through the second after junior Devin Burney scored eight of his 10 points. Baldwin regained the lead — 21-19 — on a Lesane trey and trailed only once thereafter, when senior Derek Haase opened the fourth with a shot from behind the arc to put Floyd on top 47-46.

“It was back-and-forth and no lead seemed safe,” Bruins coach Darius Burton said. “I thought we did a tremendous job on the offensive boards in the second half. They came back at us a few times and our guys stepped up when they needed to. It’s a great win.”

Baldwin (19-2) has never played for a state championship but with Williams running the show from the point and with a deep bench, Burton knows the Bruins are a tough out. “Brandon’s will to win and determination are second to none,” Burton said of Williams, who added nine assists and six steals. “He wants the ball in pressure situations.”

In the first quarter, Williams got the ball into the hot hands of Lesane, a 6-foot-3 lefty who didn’t score in double digits during the regular season but has keyed Baldwin’s best playoff run since the 2007-08 season. He had 15 points and eight rebounds in a Nassau Class AA quarterfinal win over Great Neck South, chipped in six points and six rebounds in a semifinal victory over Elmont, and contributed nine points and five boards in the county championship upset of previously undefeated Uniondale.

“In the beginning of the season, my shot was shaky,” Lesane said. “But coach Burton helped me work on it and throughout the playoffs my shot has been on.”

After leading by a basket at halftime the Bruins scored seven of the first nine points of the second half to go up 35-28, but consecutive threes by Haase (11 points) and White brought Floyd back. The Colonials were again within a basket at the close of the third quarter and thanks to Haase put a nose in front with 7:16 remaining before Williams, Lesane, Staine & Co. rose up in crunch time.