By Rich Forestano
History repeating itself has become a common occurrence at SUNY Old Westbury during the Class AA playoffs. Only this time, it wasn’t Uniondale that lost 50-46.
There were a lot of questions coming into this game.
Will Baldwin guard Chris Manning, who scored just three points in the county championship against Uniondale, play better in what could be his last game? Might John Conneely of Hills West play for the first time since undergoing emergency appendectomy surgery on Feb. 29? Will Baldwin win Long Island? And could West sophomore Tobias Harris handle the pressure of a big game?
Some of those questions were answered. Chris Mauldin made them meaningless.
Baldwin defeated Half Hollow Hills West, 50-46, at SUNY Old Westbury Saturday.
Mauldin (11 points) hit the game-winning shot, a three-pointer from the top of the key with 55 seconds left, to give Baldwin a 48-46 lead. He then hit two free throws down the stretch to seal their Long Island Championship victory.
“This is what dreams are made of,” Mauldin said. “I can’t wait for States.”
Baldwin will advance to the Class AA State Championship Semifinal Saturday at Glens Falls Civic Center. They will take on either Rochester East or Niagara Falls.
“I knew as soon as it left his hand that it was going in,” Baldwin coach Darius Burton said. “He thrives to be in situations like that. I’ve never met anyone like that.”
Chris Manning (12 points) stole an inbounds pass from Harris with eight seconds left to end all of West’s hope of a championship.
“I knew they were going to run their inbounds play to try and get Tobias the ball,” Manning said. “So I just jumped in the passing lane. This has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid.”
Harris scored almost half of his 25 points in the first half, and for a while it seemed as if the blue and gold could not contain the shifty sophomore.
“I had a good game,” he said. “There’s no doubt there, but my stats don’t mean anything. 50-46 does.”
Harris kept Hills West alive. After a basket by Derrell Brown put Baldwin up by eight, Harris scored 10 of West’s next 14, which included a floater off the backboard that tied the score at 37 with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Baldwin missed 11 free throws, five more than their last free-throw-miss debacle against Uniondale last week.
It didn’t matter after Maudin’s shot.
“All I was thinking about was winning,” said Mauldin of being on the free-throw line.
As for Conneely, he entered the game with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter, replacing Steve Rollino. According to Hills West coach Bill Mitaritonna, a doctor cleared Conneely. Without clearance, Conneely would have not have played.
“If I was hurt and didn’t need permission, I would’ve played,” Conneely said with his mother shaking her head behind him.
“If that’s the case, then I beg him not to [play],” she said. “I’d rather see him healthy than hurt.”
Conneely scored his first points of the game with two free-throws with 3:17 on the clock to put Hills West on top 44-43. He stole the basketball from Mauldin with just under two minutes remaining, and made two more free throws to put Hills West up, 46-43.
“He looked strong in practice [Friday]. I was actually surprised,” Mitaritonna said. “We never knew how much he meant to us until the Whitman game.”
Conneely’s play gave West a reason to try even harder. But Conneely showed some rust at the start, missing an open lay-up and finished with four points.
“It was hard at first,” Conneely said with his mom at his side. “Yes practice is one thing, but the game is another. It was great to be out there.”