Hampton (24 points) steers Baldwin to county title
Alexandra Hampton, #4, of the Baldwin Lady Bruins, left, hugs teammate #3 Amber Harrison after winning the Class AA Final at the Pratt Recreation Center. Baldwin beat Massapequa for their third straight Nassau County title. (March 3, 2012) Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin
Some players just have a penchant for playing their best in the moment when the spotlight shines brightest and big things are at stake. Put Baldwin senior guard Alex Hampton in that category.
Hampton scored a career-high 24 points and had four assists for top-seeded Baldwin in a 62-41 win over No. 2 Massapequa on Saturday in the Nassau Class AA girls basketball championship game at LIU Post. Hampton was awarded the game MVP and she also received the same honors as a sophomore in the county final.
Baldwin (19-1), the defending Long Island Class AA champions, won its third consecutive county championship and will play Riverhead in the Long Island Class AA championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Farmingdale State.
"This one feels the greatest because we were probably underestimated because we lost a lot of talent," Hampton said. "Everybody stepped up and I wanted to step up, as well. We just really executed well."
Baldwin coach Tom Catapano said of Hampton: "She's incredible. The kid is a winner. Every time there's a big game, she just steps up. I don't know many kids that have won three county championships in a row. She's just so calm regardless of what is going on in the game. She's amazing."
Amber Harrison also came through with a big game for the Bruins, scoring 15 points. She scored eight points in the first quarter, including her second trey of the stanza at the buzzer to give the Bruins a 15-4 lead after one quarter. Hampton took over in the second quarter with eight points, giving Baldwin a 26-16 lead at the half.
Janae De'Graff scored four of her six points in the third quarter to help maintain the double-digit lead and also had seven rebounds. Mariah Butler was playing well for Baldwin with seven points before leaving with 2:39 left in the third quarter because of leg cramps. Jade Aponte, her replacement, nailed a three-pointer to give the Bruins a 39-25 lead with 2:14 left in the third.
Baldwin struggled in the semifinals, eking out a 36-35 win over Uniondale, but was dominant against Massapequa (17-3), which was led by Morgan Roessler's 13 points.
"Against Uniondale, we didn't play that well," Catapano said. "We got by that game and here we played like champions. When I first started, all these kids were here. Every year, people tell me you lost too much. I love our kids in big games. They have been here before."
As has been the case for Baldwin in its three-year run, defense has been the key. The Bruins play stifling defense and they never let Massapequa get into a flow offensively.
"Every day in practice, we work for three hours on defense," Harrison said. "We put in a lot of work. It feels great to win it as a senior and to make it three straight is amazing."
