BOYS BASKETBALL: Ferrari Paces Rout of M-A

The Score: Burlingame 59, M-A 35.

The Star: Panthers swingman Dean Ferrari made five of eight 3-pointers to score a game-high 17 points as Burlingame cruised to the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division rout of visiting Menlo-Atherton.

The Turning Point: Burlingame built a 28-12 lead in the first half and was never challenged.

The Quote: “I feel good, but I remember last year. We got out 7-0, then lost three games, so we've got to just take one game at a time and keep plugging and keep getting better because CCS and the PAL tournament, there are going to be some tough teams.” -- Burlingame coach Jeff Dowd.

What's Next? Burlingame plays at South San Francisco on Friday at 7:45 p.m.

The Bottom Line: Burlingame forced nine turnovers in the first quarter, holding Menlo-Atherton to just four field goal attempts, all by Myles Brewer. He made two and the Bears trailed, 11-4.

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The Burlingame High School boys basketball team is used to teams trying to take away Rodrigo Puliceno. The power forward has built a reputation as one of the toughest players to stop offensively.

So it was no surprise when Menlo-Atherton was clamping down inside with a sagging zone on Puliceno on Tuesday night. The Bears were largely successful, holding Puliceno to seven points and just one field goal.

Didn't matter. Puliceno showed great patience and didn't force the issue. Instead, swingman Dean Ferrari picked up the scoring slack, hitting five of eight 3-pointers and scoring 17 points as the Panthers hammered visiting Menlo-Atherton, 59-35.

“That's our whole focus every game, to get the ball inside to Rodrigo and (Kyle Shaffer),” Ferrari said. “But when I'm open, I know I can knock it down, too.”

Said Burlingame coach Jeff Dowd, “I'm so proud of that kid, he works so hard and to see him succeed makes me very happy.”

Burlingame (14-3, 3-0 PAL Bay) led just 11-4 after one quarter, but the seeds for this victory were already sewn. Menlo-Atherton committed nine turnovers in the first quarter and managed to get off just four shots from the floor – all by Myles Brewer. He made two. The sloppy ball-handling was thanks to some excellent defense by the Panthers.

“I was really proud of our defense,” Dowd said. “I thought we did a great job of getting to the 3-point shooters, getting off in help, and then on reversals, getting back to the 3-point shooters.”

Burlingame's strategy was to pressure the ball, but not push the tempo. The Panthers worked the clock on the offensive end.

“We want to push it if we can get layups in transition,” Dowd said. “If not, we're going to pull it out and try to get the ball to Rodrigo. Tonight, they were collapsing in the zone and giving us some issues in getting the ball inside.”

Puliceno was one for three from the field, his lone basket a 3-pointer in the second half. But he never looked to force shots, a pretty impressive bit of maturity for a high schooler.

“He let the game go to him,” Dowd said. “I was very proud of his unselfishness.”

In addition, he was a force on the boards, pulling down 14 rebounds and even adding two assists. Point guard Kwesi Bailey had six assists on the night.

After the initial turnover problems, Menlo-Atherton (8-9, 1-2) settled down with the ball, committing eight the rest of the night. However, the Bears never got any real rhythm on offense. Miles Weiss had a nice game, making three of four 3-pointers for a team-high 13 points. Nobody else scored more than five.

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Burlingame 59, Menlo-Atherton 35

M-A -- 4 11 11 9 -- 35

B -- 11 17 17 14 -- 59

MENLO-ATHERTON

Myles Brewer 2-6 0-0 4, Miles Weiss 4-5 2-2 13, Ian Proulx 0-3 0-0 0, Michael Culhane 1-1 0-0 2, Marquise Tolson 1-3 0-0 2, Max Culhane 1-2 0-1 2, Webb Henninger 0-6 0-2 0, Zack Cantu 2-2 1-2 5, McKinley Mathon 1-3 2-2 5, Royce Branning 0-3 0-2 0, Steven Perez 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 13-36 5-11 35.

BURLINGAME

Kwesi Bailey 2-3 2-4 6, Zac Grotz 2-10 3-5 7, Dean Ferrari 6-10 0-1 17, Rodrigo Puliceno 1-3 4-6 7, Kyle Shaffer 3-5 2-3 8, Nick Loew 0-1 0-0 0, Neil DeQuant 1-2 0-0 3, Conner Haupt 1-4 0-0 3, Adam Feinberg 2-2 0-0 6, Stephen Johnson 0-0 2-2 2, Sam Schneider  0-0 0-0 0, Sam Abington 0-0 0-0 0, Ralphie Ferrari 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Otus 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Maller 0-0 0-0 0, Miles Freeborn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-40 13-21 59.

3-point goals: MA – Weiss 3-4, Mathon 1-3, Brewer 0-1, Tolson 0-2, Proulx 0-3, Henninger 0-3, Branning 0-3. Totals: 4-19. BUR – D. Ferrari 5-8, Feinberg 2-2, Puliceno 1-1, DeQuant 1-2, Haupt 1-4, Grotz 0-4. Totals: 10-21.

Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.

Highlights: MA – Cantu 4 rebounds. BUR – Bailey 6 assists; Puliceno 14 rebounds.

Records: Burlingame 13-3, 3-0 PAL Bay. Menlo-Atherton 8-9 1-2.