Baldwin battles through challenges

Still impacted by a difficult offseason that saw three standouts go down with serious injures, Baldwin’s girls’ basketball is progressing as much as head coach Tom Catapano hoped considering the adversity.

The Lady Bruins, seeking an unprecedented ninth consecutive Nassau Class AA championship, won each of their first nine games including a sweep of the first half of the Conference AA-2 slate, going 7-0.

“Everyone’s working hard and we’re coming along,” Catapano said.

Baldwin saw its three top returnees injured during the offseason. One is back full-time, and another on a part-time basis.

Senior All-County point guard Katelyn Simpson rejoined the lineup in mid-December. She’s a shutdown defender and facilitator, and someone who makes everyone else around her better, Catapano said. She’s averaging about 10 points per game and hit for 20 in just her second game back against Port Washington.

“Katelyn is having a nice senior year both offensive and defensively since she’s returned,” Catapano said. “We have a lot of youth around her, and her leadership is important.”

Senior center Dallysshya Moreno (All-State) and junior guard Renelle Grannum (All-Long Island) suffered torn ACL’s. The latter is slowly getting up to speed.

Grannum, who was arguably Baldwin’s best player down the stretch last winter and led it with 16 points in the Long Island Class AA championship game win over Longwood, was cleared a few weeks ago and is playing sparingly while wearing a brace. “Renelle still has a ways to go and is getting some court time here and there,” Catapano said. “She’s taking it day by day.”  

Moreno is only five months beyond her injury and unlikely to play this season. She’s a dominant post player headed to Stony Brook University, averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds last winter and put up 24 and 20, respectively, in the state semifinal victory over Cicero-North Syracuse. “Dally is rehabbing and making progress every day,” Catapano said.

Sophomore Payton Dulin’s role has changed as a result of the absences, the coach noted. “She’s been forced to do it all and she’s delivered,” Catapano said. “She’s scoring really well with a bunch of 20-point games and she’s on her way to becoming an elite defender.”

Dulin had 27 points in Baldwin’s 48-43 overtime victory over Francis Lewis in a game played at Chaminade High School on Jan. 7.

Sophomore Toni Smith and eighth-grader Chinaya Okogeri are now fixtures in the starting lineup. Smith posted a double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds) Jan. 11 to lead the Lady Bruins to a 65-52 victory over Plainview in a showdown for first place in AA-2.

“Toni is a physical player and a tremendous rebounder,” Catapano said. “She plays with a high motor.”

Okogeri is a stout defender who showed her scoring ability with 15 points against Port Washington.

Junior Monique Echols and sophomore Madison Guillory are getting starting nods and also first calls off the bench, depending on the opponent, Catapano said. Echols adds to the defensive pressure, with Guillory providing much-needed size with Moreno sidelined.