Baldwin girls basketball team breezes into Nassau Class AA final behind Monique Echols' 22 points
Monique Echols #13 of Baldwin, right, looks to drive to the net during the second quarter of the Nassau Class AA semifinals against MacArthur at Farmingdale State College on Monday, March 3, 2025. Credit: James Escher
The Baldwin girls basketball program has become synonymous with championships. With 12 county titles since 2010, the Bruins have one of the winningest programs of any sport on Long Island. But last year didn’t end the way Baldwin is used to, with a loss in the county final, and the Bruins haven’t forgotten that feeling.
Baldwin isn’t taking anything for granted, though. And after the top-seeded Bruins’ 76-31 victory over No. 4 MacArthur in the Nassau Class AA semifinals at Farmingdale State College on Monday night, Baldwin is one win away from returning to the top of the county.
“We’ve been working really hard, especially to try to make a comeback from last year,” senior guard Monique Echols said. “We’re very grateful to be back in that same position and now we just need to get the win.”
Echols had 22 points, including 15 on five three-pointers in the third quarter, to lead Baldwin. Payton Dulin and Alyssa Polonia added 13 points each for the Bruins, who often used their pressure defense to force turnovers near midcourt and create fast-break points.
“Our focus is playing hard, coming in and playing with great energy, and I think it relaxes the kids,” coach Tom Catapano said. “It’s not all about making shots and things like that. Let’s just play extremely hard, bring our defense, our attitude, our effort, and the rest will follow.”
Baldwin (19-1) will play No. 2 Garden City (20-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Farmingdale State College in the Nassau Class AA final.
Caitlin Kilian and Gabrielle Nicolini had 10 points each for MacArthur (17-5).
Baldwin opened the second quarter on a 20-2 run over 5:27 and outscored MacArthur 25-6 in the period to take a 40-11 halftime lead. The Bruins led 66-24 entering the fourth.
“We really picked up on the defensive end and then our offense started to come and everything started to flow,” Echols said. “Our defense helps us get a lot of easy buckets, pick up the momentum and helps us score a lot more.’’
Baldwin’s only loss came against Long Island Lutheran, one of the top teams in the nation.
“This is about us,” Catapano said. “This is about Baldwin and just being the best version of ourselves. That’s the goal. We have a lot back from last year, a lot of great seniors, so we’re just taking it one day at a time and trying to go as hard as we can every day at practice. We are grateful for the opportunity to be together.”
Garden City advances. Lia Costa scored all of her four points on free throws in the final 40 seconds as Garden City defeated No. 3 East Meadow, 54-49, in the other Class AA semifinal. Marisa Patrissi had 15 points and Grace Brantuk 13 for Garden City. Angelina Cronin had 20 points and Kayla Lederer 17 for East Meadow (14-8).
The Trojans opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run over 3:02 to build a 20-11 lead before taking a 26-18 lead at halftime.
East Meadow cut Garden City’s lead to 34-33 entering the fourth quarter before the Trojans opened the final period on an 8-0 run. East Meadow rallied again to cut Garden City’s to 49-46 with 1:29 left and 52-49 with 13 seconds left before Costa hit two free throws with 9.5 seconds left to close out the scoring.
The Trojans are trying to win their first county title since 2013 and their first Class AA title in program history.
