Baldwin girls basketball's Alyssa Polonia propels Bruins to another Long Island championship

A 19-point lead for Baldwin evaporated to just five with three minutes left. Bruins star Alyssa Polonia was held scoreless in the second half, but with under three minutes to go, she delivered.

Polonia nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead to nine with 2:46 left, stopping Walt Whitman’s momentum.

“Alyssa was tremendous hitting that shot,” Baldwin coach Tom Catapano said. “It’s kind of indicative of how our season has gone all year. When we’ve needed a big basket we’ve gone to Alyssa and she showed up tonight in a pressure moment knocking down that three. Couldn’t be more proud.”

Polonia finished with 17 points to lead Baldwin over Walt Whitman, 54-46, in the Long Island Class AAA girls basketball championship game at Stony Brook University on Wednesday.

The dynasty continues for Baldwin (21-3). This is its fourth Long Island championship in the last five years and the seventh in program history. Baldwin will play the winner of Newburgh Free Academy and Albertus Magnus on March 14 in the Class AAA regional final at Yorktown High School or Monroe-Woodbury High School.

Baldwin held an 8-7 lead with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. It was an even and fast-paced game until the Bruins caught fire.

Over the next eight minutes, Baldwin outscored Walt Whitman 19-1. Sophomore Malia Robinson and the Bruins were relentless with on-ball pressure, resulting in a 27-8 lead with two minutes left in the second quarter. Robinson had eight points in the first half.

“It was just ball pressure,” Robinson said. “Every practice we pressure the ball and it’s our motto on defense. The last three years, I watched Peyton Dulin. She was my mentor and helped me build up my confidence and point guard skills and now I’m here”

“I think that run was the difference in the game tonight,” Catapano said. “We did a tremendous job on defensive assignments and did a great job rebounding.”

Down low, Baldwin’s Ajeya Nicholas and Akua Bonsu played a big role. The pair combined for 18 rebounds, including several second-chance opportunities.

“We just had to put a body on them and know our matchups,” Bonsu said. “We had to keep each other accountable. And it was about communication and being on our assignments the entire time.”

In the third quarter, Whitman’s shooters started connecting. Hannah Creighton, Paige Hiller and Madi Richter all hit a three-pointer. Whitman trailed only 39-30 with 1:30 left in the third quarter.

“It was just getting back to doing things we usually do better at,” coach Daniel Trebour said. “Our ball movement got better, our shot selection got better, we started hitting shots in that third quarter and this team showed a lot of grit.”

Jazmynn Julien, who finished with 17 points, had back-to-back baskets in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to seven. Creighton then hit a layup to shrink Baldwin’s lead to 46-41 with three minutes to go.

Polonia then connected on the long ball to push the lead back to nine. Whitman missed multiple three-pointers in the final minute.

“I was just trying to make plays to win at the end of the day,” Polonia said. “It didn’t matter how I was doing in the second half. I just had to stay confident.”