Harrison leads by example in Baldwin's win
Baldwin senior Amber Harrison drains a basket in the third quarter against Port Washington. (Feb. 10, 2012) Credit: James Escher
Baldwin's Amber Harrison will contribute by whatever means necessary to help her team.
"I'm more thinking about helping out the team instead of myself," Harrison said. "What can I do to help my team out? What can I do to help us get this win? And whatever I can do to help my team I'll do."
Harrison had 15 points and three steals, including one at the start of the second quarter that she took to the hoop for an easy layup to help set the tone for the defense-first Bruins in a 41-22 win over visiting Port Washington in Nassau Conference AA-II girls basketball Friday night. Baldwin (15-1, 13-0) clinched its second straight outright conference title.
Baldwin dominated play from start to finish and went on a 13-0 run from early in the first quarter until 5:19 left in the third quarter. The Bruins led 17-4 at halftime, held Port Washington scoreless in the second quarter and increased the lead to 32-12 after the third.
"We're OK with a low-scoring game, that's our style," Baldwin coach Tom Catapano said. "We're a very good defensive team and we're an average offensive team."
Ayanna Hudson, who Catapano calls the best rebounder in the county, was dominant on the glass, coming up with 19 rebounds to go with her five points and four blocks. "Once I see that ball go up, I know it's part of my job to get that rebound," Hudson said, "so I can get the ball to my point guards so we can push in transition because we get most of our points off of that."
Emily Rosenthal had all of her 10 points in the second half for Port Washington (4-9).
The two-time defending Nassau County champions and reigning Long Island champion Bruins are poised to get the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, which begin next week.
"We don't really talk about the destination that much; we talk more about the journey," Catapano said. "If you take care of the journey, you'll end up in the destination you want to be at. We don't talk about winning championships or anything like that. We just take it one day at a time."
