Dallysshya Moreno helps Baldwin roll past Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK
Baldwin's Dallyssha Moreno puts one up while being covered by Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK's Molly McCarthy in the third quarter during a Nassau Class AA girls basketball semifinal on Tuesday at Hofstra. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Name an attribute of a basketball player and Dallysshya Moreno possesses it.
The Baldwin junior can score, rebound, pass and defend with the best on Long Island. Her 6-foot frame creates matchup nightmares wherever she is on the court — offensively and defensively.
"When you know that your best player is someone who can do a little bit of everything, as a coach you feel safe," Baldwin girls basketball coach Tom Catapano said. "You know as long as she’s on the court, we’re going to be all right."
Moreno had 25 points to lead top-seeded Baldwin to a 69-35 victory over No. 4 Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK in a girls basketball Nassau Class AA semifinal at Hofstra’s Mack Sports Complex Tuesday morning.
Baldwin (15-4) advances to play Syosset (19-2) in the Nassau Class AA final at Hofstra March 5 at 2:30 p.m. Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK finishes 16-5.
But Moreno wasn’t concerned about her point total. She wanted to contribute in any way possible to help Baldwin win its eighth straight and 11th Nassau Class AA title in the last 12 seasons.
"Our work doesn’t stop here," Moreno said. "We’re definitely going to keep going and that’s all that matters. As long as we win, it doesn’t matter if I have five points, four points, one point. Whatever it is as long as we win."
And the Bruins aren’t only looking to win for themselves. They’ve been playing in memory of assistant coach Anthony Bolden, who died Sept. 7 of complications from pulmonary fibrosis. The team wears warmup shirts in his honor, which the Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK coaches also wore Tuesday. Bolden used to play for the Tulsa Talons, an Arena Football League team, and Catapano donned his jersey on the sideline.
"It’s one of the things that keeps me going," Moreno said. "Waking up for the 8 a.m. practices on Saturdays and Sundays and training. That’s my goal to make him proud this year. He put too much time in and the time he could have been with his family he was with us, so we want to prove him right while he’s above there watching us."
Baldwin opened a commanding 40-21 lead at halftime after closing the final 6:45 of the second quarter on a 20-3 run.
"It really was our second gear and our conditioning," Moreno said. "It definitely was due to those hard days at practice. Our practices are like none other. If anything, our practices are harder than our games."
"Some teams may be bigger than us," said Katelyn Simpson, who added nine points. "But I feel like we have better conditioning than anyone and I think that wore them down in the second half."
Renelle Grannum added 14 points and Paris Nosworthy had seven points for Baldwin.
With all the success Baldwin’s had this season, the Bruins only start one senior, which bodes well for the team’s future as well.
"This team is extremely young and they are starting to figure it out and I still think we have our best game still in our back pocket," said Catapano adding with a laugh, "Hopefully it comes out."
The Bruins continue to play for themselves, their history and Bolden.
"We just want to keep proving ourselves to people and keep going," Moreno said. "And we just want to make him proud."
