Baldwin girls basketball's Alyssa Polonia scores 19 points, leads Bruins to 14th Nassau title

The ability to go on runs has made the Baldwin girls basketball team tough to slow down. In the county final against Massapequa, it was more of the same.

Top-seeded Baldwin went on multiple runs of scoring more than 10 unanswered points on its way to a 57-39 win over No. 3 Massapequa in the Nassau Class AAA championship game at Farmingdale State College on Saturday.

“We’re in great condition and we have that spurtability at any given time,” coach Tom Catapano said. “The game could be close then we can go on a 10-0 run. I thought our guards played great tonight. When you have a backcourt playing that well, you usually have a good result.”

The Bruins were up by one but then held Massapequa scoreless for 6:39, spanning from the end of the second quarter to start of the third, during an 11-0 run.

In the fourth quarter, Alyssa Polonia put the game away for good, scoring 12 points in the final frame during a 15-1 run. Polonia led Baldwin with 19 points.

Baldwin (20-3) faces Whitman (21-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Stony Brook University for the Long Island Class AAA championship in a state subregional contest.

Baldwin won its fourth county championship in five years, and its 14th girls basketball county title in the school’s history.

“I’ve been blessed with a great community,” Catapano said. “You can see it with alumni from Florida and Connecticut coming back today. I am so proud of this group in particular. After last year’s state title we lost six seniors, including four starters, and to come back and win the county championship is a tremendous accomplishment.”

Baldwin had a 13-12 lead after the first quarter. With 4:39 left in the second quarter, Savanna Appleton hit a basket for Massapequa to cut Baldwin's lead to 20-19. 

Then the run began.

Baldwin’s suffocating defense led by Malia Robinson was on full display. The Bruins caused turnovers and found themselves ahead 31-19 with 6:55 left in the third quarter.

“Winners win,” said Robinson, who finished with 15 points. “[Catapano] always tells me to push the pace. In practice we always compete. We had drills in practice to prepare us for this and we were in a battle but we came out on top.”

Massapequa (19-4) then got back into a rhythm. Reese Reustle started knocking down shots, including a jumper to cut the deficit to 39-30 with 7:45 left in the game. Reustle finished with 12 points.

“This is a very special group,” Massapequa coach Billy Herr said. “I am really proud of them. We’ve had adversity. It was Reese’s first start since December and she was huge. Everybody answered the call, but that’s the standard over there. That’s Baldwin and they did what they needed to do today. I give them credit.”

Over the next four minutes, Baldwin went on its 15-1 run to take a 54-31 lead with 3:40 left. Polonia got in a groove during the run. She buried a pair of threes, then drove to the basket and finished through the contact, converting a three-point play. 

“I just knew this was my last county championship ever,” Polonia said. “I just gave it everything I had and I was very excited.”