Test time for unbeaten Baldwin

After a week of challenging midterm exams, members of Baldwin’s undefeated boys basketball team will be put to the test in back-to-back games beginning Friday night with a visit from Conference AA-II rival East Meadow.

“We’re the only Class AA school without a loss, but a lot of upsets have taken place in Conferences I and III and we don’t want to be next,” Bruins coach Darius Burton said. “The kids have done a great job staying focused.”

While Baldwin (9-0 overall, 7-0 in conference play) can’t afford to overlook the Jets, an exciting matchup with Brooklyn Collegiate awaits on Saturday. The 2:30 p.m. tipoff at Gauchos Gym in the Bronx is part of a four-game extravaganza. “I don’t like playing back-to-back days, but I couldn’t turn down such an invitation,” Burton said. “It’ll be a great test.”

East Meadow hung tough with the Bruins throughout the first half of the first meeting on Dec. 21 and trailed by only four at intermission. But in the second half, the Bruins turned up the full-court man-to-man pressure on the Jets and ran away with an 80-47 victory.

“Our half-court defense is very good, but it’s not what we look to do,” Burton said. “East Meadow did a nice job breaking our press and hitting shots in the first half. We made an adjustment and were able to make them uncomfortable.”

The Conference AA-II picture could be completed by next Friday if Baldwin continues its dominance. MacArthur, which sits one game behind in second place and lost to the Bruins by 22 earlier this month, hosts the rematch on Feb. 4. “I was impressed with MacArthur and we’re expecting a tough game at their place,” Burton said. “We were able to wear them down with our depth. I think our depth is what separates us from most teams.”

No conference rival has come within 20 points of Baldwin, which has been led by its starting five of T’Ziah Wood-Smith, Aaron Greene, Eyituoyo Ofuya, Kyle Richardson and Brandon Williams.

Richardson, a 6-foot-4 junior forward who starred at the JV level last season, is leading the team in scoring (12.5 points per game), three-point shooting, and free-throw percentage, and ranks second or third in rebounding and blocks. “We use him at small forward and he presents a lot of mismatches,” Burton said. “He has tremendous upside.”

Greene, a senior, and Williams, a junior, comprise the starting backcourt and do it all at both ends. In last Friday’s 64-29 blowout of Port Washington, Greene had 13 points, five assists and five rebounds, and Williams had 12 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals. Williams primarily runs the point and leads the team in assists, but Greene also brings the ball up the floor. Wood-Smith and Ofuya are ultra aggressive on the boards, and the Bruins are getting big efforts off the bench from the likes of senior Khari Rollock and John Chery, and juniors Kirk Staine and Myles Ojeikere.

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