Baldwin Climbs Mt. Saint Michael
HEMPSTEAD, NY - One of the more intriguing games of Saturday’s Upstate/Downstate Challenge was between the Baldwin Bruins and the Mt. Saint Michael’s Mountaineers. The 9th Annual event held at Uniondale H.S. featured five New York vs Long Island games but none were more competitive as when the Bruins battled from behind to eventually overtake the Bronx, NY Catholic school, 60-57.
The Mountaineers unleashed an avalanche on top of Baldwin soon after the tip-off as Elijah Buchanan ‘17 blasted them from the perimeter and high flying Jacob Rodriguez ‘17 scored inside. Jabeon Bivens ‘17 managed to get off a three-ball for the Bruins bit the Long Island public school found themselves in an 11 – 3 hole with 5:03 left in the opening quarter. Baldwin began to regain its footing as Elijah Bovell ‘17 and Nasim Cylin ‘18 scored late.
“We wanted to stretch out our defense,” said Bruins Head Coach Darius Burton as his team cut their deficit down to 7 points to begin the second quarter. That strategy would take a little while to take effect.
Buchanan once again increased the Mountaineer’s point spread as he netted another three-pointer. Baldwin having lost go-to-guy Jared Rhoden ‘18 to transfer the Bruins seemed in search of someone else to become “that dude” as their passing game resembled hot potato. That would soon change as Bovell and Cylin began to attack in transition
The Mountaineers were suddenly on its heels, on butt end of a 13 – 5 Baldwin run. Mt. Saint Michaels was clutching onto a mere 23 – 22 advantage. Rhijon Blackwell ‘19 finally forced the Mountaineers to release its lead as the sophomore netted a lead changing bucket.
Point guard Mike Green ‘19 and Joseph Bull briefly ‘17 regained the lead for the Mountaineers but a buzzer beating trey by Bovell gave Baldwin its first 31-29 lead as the first half ended. Mt. Saint Michael still had some fight left as Baldwin soon learned.
The Bruins extended its lead to eight points before the Mountaineers picked itself up off the floor and fought back. Buckets by Buchanan along with assistance from Green and Mike Krause ‘18 turned the tide, putting Mt. Saint Michael back into the driver’s seat.
This time, Baldwin did not allow their opponent to extend its lead beyond as Cylin and Bovell fought back offensively with 6’6” Ian Rieger ’17 battling on the boards. The Bruins also unleashed relentless traps on Buchanan. The lead changed hands and was again tied at 45 with 1:16 left to play. Green pilfered the rock and gave the Mountaineers a two-point lead as time was quickly running out.
All signs appeared to be pointing towards a hard-fought win for Mt. Saint Michael due to the momentum shift but Baldwin had one last card to play. A clutch trifecta by Derrick Ruffin ‘17 with 39.5 seconds remaining in regulation put the Bruins up one. A missed bucket by Buchanan resulted in a foul on Ruffin as he snared the rebound with 20 ticks left. The senior displayed ice water in his veins and both free-throws were nothing but net.
The Mountaineers battled to the bitter end until Bovell, who earned MVP honors, closed the show from the foul line, yielding the three-point win for Baldwin.
Bovell led the Bruins with 22 points with Cylin and Bivins adding 11 points and 10 point respectively. Buchanan earned a sportsmanship award scoring a game high 24 points with Green contributing 17 points.
In other action:
* Fox Lane edges South Side, 52 - 50
* Elmont tops CBA (Albany), 57-46
* L.I. Lutheran devours Middletown, 97-57.
Donatas Kupsas ‘18 led the way with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Chris Coalmon ‘17 chipped in with 16 points.
* Uniondale inches past New Rochelle at the buzzer, 71 - 70
