Payton Dulin, Baldwin back on track with Nassau AA crown

The Baldwin girls basketball team didn’t need the physical reminder of walking back into the gymnasium where its season ended far earlier than expected last year for the memories to return. It has been on the players’ minds since exiting defeated last year, and they were determined not to allow that to happen again.

“We had to get that taste out of our mouth,” senior forward Toni Smith said. “Last year obviously happened, but it taught us a lot of lessons like we have to be grateful and humble. We can’t take any for granted, so our work ethic was different approaching this season.”

As opposed to extending a prolonged county championship streak, Baldwin started a new one on Saturday as the top-seeded Bruins defeated No. 2 Garden City, 64-52, in the girls basketball Nassau Class AA final at Farmingdale State College on Saturday afternoon.

Baldwin avenged last season’s loss in the Nassau Class AAA championship game to win its 13th county title since 2010.

The Bruins are one win away from their third Long Island crown over the last four years. Baldwin (20-1) plays the winner of Smithtown West/Westhampton at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Farmingdale State College in the Long Island Class AA championship in a state Class AA regional.

“It’s just one step closer to our ultimate goal,” senior guard Payton Dulin said. “Our ultimate goal is to win states, and there’s a lot of motivation.”

Dulin had 16 points and Smith had 14 points to lead Baldwin on Saturday. Monique Echols added 11 points and Ajeya Nicholas had 10 points in a balanced scoring effort.

“A lot of us from this team leveled up from last year,” Dulin said. “We have so many different weapons on this team.”

Garden City (20-3) gave Baldwin a challenge, staying a run away from knocking off the top seed. Kyle Finnell had 26 points for the Trojans. Baldwin led 18-12 after the first quarter and 38-23 at halftime, but Garden City pulled the score to 10 points in the fourth quarter.

“Garden City poses some problems for us because of their size, they are huge inside,” coach Tom Catapano said. “They had a great year, so hats off to (Garden City).”

Baldwin returned the majority of its team from last season, and although it was a painful finish last year, that county championship loss aided the Bruins’ focus ever since.

“We learned no matter how good we are, it all depends on that day and who wanted it more and unfortunately, that team wanted it more,” Smith said. “We learned from that that we have to work harder. No matter how many hours you put in the gym, you have to produce and show that on the court.”

Baldwin hopes Saturday isn’t its final championship celebration this year. Continuing the program’s legacy is a main motivator.

“It’s our driving force,” Smith said. “It wasn’t just a bad taste about last year, it ended our dynasty. So not just for us, but for all the players who came before us and for our coaches and the community, we had to win the championship.”