Baldwin boys basketball wins sixth straight Nassau championship after overcoming 13-point deficit

The hole was 13 points deep against Port Washington midway through the second quarter. A sixth straight country title was at stake for the boys basketball dynasty from Baldwin, but Darius Burton saw that his team was looking uncharacteristically nervous.

“I tell them, ‘We don’t feel the pressure; we make the pressure,’ ” the coach said.

The top-seeded Bruins settled down, rallied and ultimately yielded just six points in the fourth quarter. They beat Port Washington, 47-40, in the Nassau Class AAA final Saturday night at Farmingdale State.

Six in a row.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Burton, who guided Baldwin to the county 'AA' title last season while Port Washington took the 'AAA' crown. “But I’ve got to say, it takes a village.

“I’ve been blessed with a tremendous amount of talent in Baldwin for the 26 years I’ve coached. Starting with PAL, my middle school, my JV, we go 12 months a year.”

Rian Gittens helped the Bruins (21-2) earn their 16th straight win, sinking four threes and scoring a team-high 14 points in his first game back after missing almost two months with a torn MCL.

The senior forward said Burton had given the players this message about the title streak: “Don’t be the group not to do it.”

Senior point guard Ethan Sainsbury added nine points and set a record with this championship — first four-year player in Baldwin history to win four county titles.

“Ever since I was young, I always won championships, AAU, little leagues,” Sainsbury said. “I’ve always loved winning. I always like to say, I hate losing more than I like to win.”

Baldwin will pursue a second straight Long Island championship at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Farmingdale State against Bay Shore (19-4) in a state Class AAA subregional contest.

“A great team,” Burton said. “I picked them to come out at the beginning and I was right.”

Billy Edelstein, who drilled five threes and topped Port Washington (17-6) with 15 points, hit from beyond the arc, cutting Baldwin’s lead to 39-37 with 3:51 remaining.

Devon Mitchell soon scored off his offensive rebound for a four-point lead.

In the final minute, Jordan Williams hit a free throw for Baldwin, Sainsbury made three of them and Williams converted a layup — 47-37, 14.9 left.

“They made a couple of more [shots] than we did there late,” Port Washington coach Sean Dooley said. “We had some good looks. Just didn’t go down for us. But I’m proud of my kids, the effort and the way we battled for 32 minutes.”

His kids led 19-6. Then Gittens nailed three threes in an 18-2 run — 24-21 Bruins at halftime.

“I put the work in,” Gittens said. “I believe in myself. My coaches put me in the right positions to do the right things.”