BOYS BASKETBALL: M-A Can't Slow Burlingame

The Score: Burlingame 59, M-A 35.

The Star: Burlingame High swingman Dean Ferrari made five of eight 3-pointers to score a game-high 17 points, sending visiting Menlo-Atherton to the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division defeat.

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

The Quote: “I think we've had some ups and downs. We really need to bounce back from this and get back on a winning streak.” -- Michael Culhane, on M-A's season so far.

What's Next? Menlo-Atherton plays at Aragon 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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It's not often you see a coach call timeout after the game's opening possession. But there was Menlo-Atherton High boys basketball coach Senque Carey signaling for a timeout less than a minute into his team's game at Burlingame on Tuesday night.

The reason? Kwesi Bailey rebounded his own missed shot for the Panthers, then Kyle Shaffer scored on an inside move.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the timeout did little. Burlingame built a huge first-half lead and cruised to a 59-35 Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division victory.

Menlo-Atherton had all kinds of problems in the first quarter. The Bears (8-9, 1-2 PAL Bay) turned the ball over nine times in the opening eight minutes and managed to get just four shots off – all by Myles Brewer. He made two and Menlo-Atherton trailed 11-4 at the break.

“It's about coming into a ballgame with a gameplan in mind and going out and executing,” Carey said. “We knew this was a tough Burlingame team and we couldn't give these guys extra shots. And that's exactly what we did by turning the ball over. We gave them second shots with offensive rebounds and the turnovers and with a quality, well-coached team like Burlingame, you can't do that.”

Said Michael Culhane, “They played some pretty good defense. We've just got to get better at handling the ball, bringing it up the court. We should work on that in practice the next couple of days, work on it in the next few games, and hopefully get them when we get back on our home floor.”

M-A did an excellent job of shutting down Panthers power forward Rodrigo Puliceno, collapsing its zone around him and holding him to just seven points and one field goal. However, that opened up the outside shot for Burlingame, which made 10 of 21 3-pointers. Leading the way was swingman Dean Ferrari, who made five of eight from long-range and scored a game-high 17 points.

“I thought we did a great job on their bigs,” Carey said. “What hurt us was their perimeter shooting. You've got to pick your poison. Take away the bigs, give up the outside shot. These guys were hot tonight. Their wings really stepped up tonight.”

The Panthers (14-3, 3-0) built their lead to 28-12 late in the second quarter and continued to build it in the second half. The Bears were able to whittle it down to 15 points early in the fourth quarter but really never challenged.

Miles Weiss was the bright spot for Menlo-Atherton, making three of four 3-pointers and scoring a team-high 13 points. No other Bear 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.