Brentwood wins seventh LI crown, eyes first state title
Brentwood's Marquese Dennis and Frederic Diogene celebrate their win over Baldwin in the Long Island Class AA boys basketball final on Saturday at Stony Brook. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Less than three minutes had passed in the Long Island Class AA boys basketball championship game and already it looked like Baldwin had Brentwood in a tough spot. The Bruins had scored on five of their first six possessions, Brentwood had committed turnovers on four of its first five and the margin was 10 points.
Brentwood, however, didn’t panic because that’s been the story of its season: start slow, roar to the finish.
And that’s precisely how things played out on Saturday with a spot in the state semifinals on the line. First Brentwood recovered to even the score by the end of the first quarter. And then it opened the second half with 12 unanswered points and rolled to a 62-53 victory at Stony Brook’s Island Federal Arena.
Brentwood (19-7) is Long Island champion for the seventh time and first time since 2019. It is on an eight-game winning streak as it advances in the state tournament to a 2:45 p.m. semifinal on Friday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, N.Y. Brentwood is seeking its third title-game berth and first state crown.
“They believe in themselves now,” Brentwood coach Anthony Jimenez said of overcoming the early deficit. “They have an unshakable faith in what they can accomplish. The goal is always to get a team to perform to its highest level. Sometimes it just clicks.”
When Brentwood opened its season 2-3, the players heard the whispers about the program ‘rebuilding’ or having ‘a down year’ grow louder.
“People doubted us,” Marquese Dennis said. “We needed to get our heads together. We needed to become more of a team.”
“We didn’t have superstars and the [players] needed to understand that if they each played their role, the whole team would get better,” Jimenez said. “They did and things started to happen.”
A non-conference game against Baldwin in the middle of January was a catalyst. The Bruins led by 12 after one quarter and went on to win by 21.
“They were so aggressive,” Freddy Diogene said. “We felt if we pushed ourselves we could get another chance to see them.”
Diogene and Tyrell Davender each scored six points as Brentwood climbed back to tie it at 18 at the end of the first quarter. They later each had four points in the 12-0 run that started the second half and got the lead to 42-27.
“Baldwin is explosive and we needed to get by that first [burst],” Jimenez said. “Once we got back in it, we needed to make sure they didn’t get two or three more of those.”
“They beat us in transition and with their second and third chances off the boards,” Baldwin coach Darius Burton said. “They were the better team today. They played better in a big game and hats off to Coach Jimenez and his team.”
Dennis finished with 15 points — 13 in the second half — and Diogene had 14 points to lead Brentwood. Jeremiah Webb and Davender each added 13 points.
Asked about that distribution, Davender said, “We’re not a selfish team at all.”
Added Webb, “We started winning when we started to [look for] each other and now that’s what we do.”
Dylan Madden scored 13 points, Jaylen Brown 11 points and Peyton Howell and Joshua Petion both chipped in nine points for Baldwin (21-3).
Looking ahead, Jimenez spoke from experience about the last two rungs on the ladder to a state title when he said “winning the state championship is a beast.”
“We will do everything we can to prepare,” he said. “When you go upstate, preparation and mindset are everything.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
