Monday, April 21, 2025
Baldwin girls' basketball is back on top with an exclamation point.
The Bruins, boasting one of the most successful high school programs of any sport in the state over the past 15 years, captured their 10th Nassau County championship in 11 seasons Saturday afternoon with a 64-52 victory over second-seeded Garden City in the Class AA title game at Farmingdale State College.
Senior Payton Dulin scored 18 points and senior Toni Smith added 14 as Baldwin won its 13th straight game — with each of the previous dozen by at least 35 points.
“This was a major goal of ours and hopefully we keep going,” Dulin said. “It was a little sloppy at times, but Garden City is a very good team and at this point it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win.”
It was Baldwin's 19th win in 20 games and it advanced to face Westhampton for the Long Island Class AA title on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Farmingdale State. The Bruins' lone defeat came against Long Island Lutheran Jan 7.
"Everyone knows last season didn’t end the way we wanted and we got right back to work," Baldwin head coach Tom Catapano said. "We’ve had a young team the past two years and now a lot of these girls are seniors and they don’t want to be denied the goals they set out to accomplish.”
Garden City (20-3) entered the finals riding a 20-game win streak after opening the season with back-to-back defeats. The Trojans eliminated No. 7 Elmont (56-47) and No. 3 defending champion East Meadow (54-49) in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively. Senior standout Kyle Finnell led all scorers with 26 points.
“They’ve got good size and made us earn it,” Catapano said. “We were definitely tested today and we know we need to clean up some things for the next game.”
Senior Monique Echols added 11 points and sophomore Ajeya Nicholas chipped in 10 for the top-seeded Bruins, who led 18-12 after the first quarter, 38-23 at halftime and 52-35 after three quarters.
“It was a tough game and we needed to lock in,” Echols said. “We always think defense-first and then do what we have to do offensively.”
The playoff march began Feb. 10 when the Bruins defeated No. 8 South Side, 82-41, in the quarterfinals. Dulin was on fire with five 3s and finished with a game-high 26 points and led the defensive effort with seven steals. Freshman Malia Robinson also scored in double figures, netting a dozen.
With more than two weeks between the end of the regular season and the playoff opener, Echols said they used the time wisely.
“It was tough waiting that long between games, but we got to work on things coach felt like we needed to work on,” Echols said.
Then on March 3, Echols had 22 points, including 15 on five three-pointers in the third quarter, to lead a 76-31 victory over No. 4 MacArthur at Farmingdale State. Dulin and junior Alyssa Polonia added 13 points each.
Baldwin opened the second quarter on a 20-2 run and held an insurmountable 40-11 halftime lead. It was its third lopsided victory over the Generals this season.
Should the Bruins defeat Westhampton they'd advance to the Southeast Regional Final at Yorktown High School next Saturday at a yet-to-be determined time.
“Last season left a bad taste in our mouths,” Dulin said. “We’ve all been working hard to go as far as we can.”
