Baldwin Captures L.I Title
The last time the Baldwin Bruins won Long Island and had a chance to vie for a state title, point guard Brandon Williams was an eighth grader at Baldwin Middle School. Since that 2008 L.I. title, Murphy's Law has applied to Baldwin in the post-season. Uniondale, Elmont, and the court at Hofstra University have all been the Bruins' Kryptonite. But on Saturday afternoon, Williams and his teammates saw to it that Baldwin would be headed upstate this season with a 68-57 win over Suffolk champs, the William Floyd Colonials.
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"I told [Baldwin Head] Coach [Darius] Burton that there'd be no chance of us losing [at Hofstra] again," said Williams, who was on the floor for three of the last four excruciating exits from the state title hunt. "As a captain and point guard, my job is to control the game."
Williams did just that - he scored 12 of his 16 points - to go with 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals - in the second half of a game that saw Floyd gnawing at the Bruins' heels for most of the way. After a slow start, Floyd came to life in the second quarter behind the play of star guard, Anthony White. The 6'3", St. Francis-bound White sported his facilitator hat first, dishing out a quick flurry of assists to teammate Devin Burney (10 points). Soon after, it was time to score. White showed off his range with a straight away trey that capped an 18-11 Floyd run and tied the game at 25.
White's long range shooting kept Floyd in the game, as did some perimeter power from Derek Haase (11 points), but the Colonials didn't have many answers offensively beyond the jump shot. That's when the Bruins took the old school approach to putting points on the board.
"At halftime, I told the guys that if we play defense, we can make a run and score that way," said Coach Burton. "Don't worry about the offense."
Williams got his mitts on a number of Floyd's passes, creating opportunity on the other end. It also helps when you have a front court to complete assists and pound the boards.
"I thought we did a really good job with offensive rebounding. I emphasized attacking the basket and getting the rebound."
Longwood University-bound big man Kirk Staine (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Kyle Richardson (7 points, 14 rebounds) made sure to cash in on the chip shots and clean up the mess via dominance of the glass. Meanwhile, some of Baldwin's newer faces proved just as indispensable as their veteran PG.
"Rashid [Lessane] and Mikey [Tzul] are a transfer from Brooklyn and a returner to the school [respectively]," Coach Burton explained. "It took some time for this team to get going and learn each other [early in the season]. Around mid-January, we began clicking and becoming more unselfish."
Lessane (who scored a game high 19 points) was clutch scoring the ball for the Bruins all game long, while Tzul's bucket with 3:07 left in the fourth put Baldwin up nine, 56-47. Fresh off a 10-0 run, all the Bruins had to do was stave off the Colonials. But no team can be counted out as long as time remains, and when In the double bonus with the lead, it all comes back to your point guard to control the tempo.
"Brandon is a great decision maker and has an uncanny will to win. All his hard work has paid off. He wants the ball in the fourth."
Williams got to the line, nailing 4 of 6 from the line during crunch time, as well as remaining alert on defense despite the aroma of an upstate trip only a few minutes away.
"I wasn't losing three times in a row," Williams said with a grin. "I trained with Jerry Powell and he helped me a lot, but I couldn't do this without my teammates. They did a great job finishing. We did this as a team."
Bonus: Harborfields blows out South Side for Class 'A' Crown
In the duel of the natural disasters, the Harborfields Tornadoes upended the South Side Cyclones, 80-61. The game spiraled out of control quickly for the Cyclones, as Harborfields stormed out to an early lead and had an 18 point advantage at halftime. It only got worse. The Suffolk County champs were up 20+ points before simmering down to an easy victory and another run at a state title. John Patron, Lucas Woodhouse, and Justin Ringen led Harborfields with 20, 17, and 13 points, respectively.