Sometimes, when you walk into a gym during warm-ups before a big game, you try to get a feel for your opponent based on the way they move, look, and prepare. Upon seeing Baldwin go through their pre-game routine, one word came to mind: Firepower.
By game’s end, the Lady Bruins (21-2) showed why they’re the state’s No. 1-ranked team in Class AA, ending Rye’s season with a 49-33 win in the Regional championship game Saturday at Yorktown.
Baldwin senior guard Payton Dulin led all scorers with 22 points, sending her team to the state tournament semifinals next weekend in Troy. The George Washington University-commit was the focal point of Baldwin’s dominant second-half offensive scheme, and was simply more than Rye (21-4) could handle.
For three quarters, the Garnets would not go away. Behind the steady shooting eye of eighth-grader Charlotte Storz and her eight first-half points, Rye began to settle in. Baldwin’s suffocating full-court press in the first quarter bent ever so slightly to Rye’s crisp passing and rediscovered composure in the second, and the Garnets trailed by only six at the half.
With Rye junior power forward Phoebe Greto in some early foul trouble, Rye’s bench did more than hold serve. With 1:22 to go in the third quarter, Rye briefly took the lead, 29-28, as the decibels in Yorktown’s gym reached dangerous levels.
But as hard as Rye senior Molly Kennedy, junior Paige Tepedino, and sophomore Frankie Chiaravalle would fight, it was the Baldwin’s fans who cheered the loudest at game’s end. Rye could only muster four points in the deciding fourth quarter, as Baldwin coasted down the stretch.
Rye coach Margo Hackett and her staff have much to be proud of with this young team. With four of five starters returning from Rye’s Section 1 Championship squad, next year could be even better.
