Baldwin was all ready to go, but the Westbury bench was short a person. Their Assistant Coach, Aaron Howell, was nowhere to be seen 30 seconds before tip.

He wouldn't appear until the game and festivities were over and the trophies were handed out. After all, how could anybody expect a father to coach against his son?

"I stayed neutral and sat in the stands", Coach Howell joked. "It's family versus family. (Baldwin point guard) Donte (Howell) is my son and Westbury is my family, so either way I can't lose." The elder Howell's victory came as a coach last night, as Westbury held off a late scare from Baldwin in the final 88 seconds to win the Rob Moore/Hempstead Village Summer Tournament, 66-57, at the Kennedy Park Recreation Center in Hempstead.

By the looks of things in the first quarter, nobody would've foreshadowed the tooth and nail finish that would have the packed house on the edge of their seats. Westbury came out smoking, as rising senior Paris Abrams -who has yet to have one of his three point barrages in this tournament- was drilling over Baldwin's zone from the deep corners with tremendous confidence. With rising junior combo guard Sheldon Hagigal on the other wing needing attention (he hit a trey straight out of tip-off), the 6'1 Abrams made Baldwin pay with even a speck of daylight. By the time he scored his thirteenth point of the first quarter on a fast break keeper, Westbury was up, 18-6, and the title game looked like it would be just another on their long list of Rob Moore blowouts. Westbury's diamond press was in full gear, and Baldwin couldn't get much going outside of some inside hustle points from rising junior forward T'Ziah Wood-Smith. Baldwin would be down, 26-13, to start the second, but they weren't about to lay down on a big stage. An 11-2 roll would be their passageway back into the mix, as shooting guard Dominique Aberdeen sent home a timely three followed by a pressure induced steal and lay-up to cap the run. With Abrams on the bench for the first three minutes of the quarter, Westbury went into an offensive lull as Baldwin began to inch closer. Abrams would return to the game and immediately can another three (his fourth of the game), but the 6-foot-5 Wood-Smith would start chipping away inside, and when rising senior Ashanti DePass went 1-2 from the line, Baldwin was back within a point, 33-32. Despite Steve Hypolite's lay-up at the buzzer giving Westbury a five point advantage at the half (37-32), frustration was appearing to set in and Baldwin was heavy on their heels.

Rising junior PG Tyrece Redd began to shake and bake Baldwin defenders and feed the post on every possession, but the third quarter was a missed lay-up party for Westbury. Lucens Victor -despite being a bruiser on the defensive glass- missed three shots from point blank range, rendering slick passes from Redd and Lamard Herron futile. Howell would knock down a pair of clutch threes, and once again, Baldwin was a phone call away, 42-40. Despite his troubles on the offensive end, the 6'6 Victor's rebounding (he totaled well into double digits for the game) and interior defense kept Baldwin from striking, and Herron's infinite Energizer Bunny hustle on both sides of the ball pulled Westbury out of the red zone, at least temporarily.

"Lamard is one of the best effort players I've ever had", said Westbury Head Coach David Graff. "He's relentless, he's our captain and he holds us together. He never stops, he just keeps going after you."

Baldwin would enter the fourth quarter down, 49-43, but they would turn up the defensive pressure once again and put Westbury back on the ropes. Aberdeen and rising junior Aaron Greene would lead the charge on the offensive end, and when the former found the latter in the corner with 4:05 left, he nailed a huge three ball to bring Baldwin back within one, 53-52. Greene, who was then sent to the stripe twice, had the opportunity to give Baldwin a three point lead, but he instead went 1-4 and the game was knotted at 53. Howell would again tie it back up at 55 with a pair of free throws, but Baldwin would never taste a lead in all 32 minutes. Playing the unlikely hero, Victor nailed a free throw followed by a key (and overdue) lay-up on a feed from Herron for what may have well been the most important basket of the game.

"(That shot) was huge, but what Lucens did for us on the defensive end was a big difference in the game", said Coach Graff. "The last four minutes, he got every defensive rebound and he altered and blocked shots. If he's not in the game, I don't think we have the same result."

Victor's lay-up was the springboard for an 8-0 Westbury run in the final 88 seconds, keyed by the energy of Herron and Redd and a sense of urgency on the defensive end. After all, Westbury was a hair away from losing, and they weren't about to go undefeated in the tournament only to lose when it mattered the most.

"We never give up", said Herron. "When we lost to Roslyn last year (in the Nassau Class A semi-finals), we realized that what we think is impossible can happen."

As for Coach Howell, the game was a win-win situation. "This makes me feel good as a coach. Westbury was blowing teams out all summer, they haven't been tested that much. When the game got close, they kept the pressure on. They showed a lot of heart."

Paris Abrams grabbed game MVP honors with 20 points (15 of them coming in the first quarter) via an 8-14 performance from the field. Lamard Herron's 14 points, trademark hustle and intangibles earned him the Sportsmanship award. T'Ziah Wood Smith and Donte Howell earned Sportsmanship Awards for Baldwin with 9 and 8 points, respectively. The difference for Baldwin between this game and their win over Uniondale was to be found in the free throw department. They shot a sub par 8-19 from the stripe, compared to an 18-26 performance against Uniondale.

Westbury finished the tournament unscathed with a 10-0 record.

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