Brian Bernardi- Great Read!

[hoopmanx]

Bernardi is getting bigger physically. Really need that physicality/toughness come Big East

http://robbyrise.tumblr.com/post/163074 ... christ-the

[ponyscott]

Brian's team upset powerful Christ The King on Saturday and looks like CTK focused on stopping Brian , which opened up the other guard to score 33 points..Brian ended up with 13 points:

"Xaverian snapped out of its slide in a big way – by shocking two-time defending CHSAA Class AA city champion Christ the King, 76-70, Sunday afternoon in Bay Ridge.

C.W. Post-bound guard Dillon Burns torched the Royals for 33 points, SMU commit Brian Bernardi had 13 points and George Lambert had 12 for the Clippers, which led most of the way. Omar Calhoun, the Royals’ UConn recruit, scored 24 points, Jon Severe had 14 and Isaiah Lewis 12.

Christ the King is now 11-6 overall and 5-1 in league and visits St. Francis Prep Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. while Xaverian (10-5, 3-3 ‘AA’) visits Archbishop Molloy on Tuesday as wel

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_sch ... z1kUI8pdhQ


They won last night again and Brian had 18 points in a rout:
Big second quarter, Burns' clutch shot seals Xaverian's rout of Molloy

By MARC RAIMONDI

Last Updated: 2:25 AM, January 25, 2012

Archbishop Molloy had turned a rout at the half into a single-digit deficit and Xaverian was back on its heels, reeling.

That’s when the Clippers turned to Dillon Burns.

“That’s chaos time,” Xaverian coach Jack Alesi said. “The hardest game to coach and play is when you’re protecting a lead, because everything becomes magnified. We were all over the place. A kid like Dillon kind of settles you in. That’s the luxury of having him.”

Burns, the wily senior point guard, drilled a 16-foot pullup jumper with the shot clock winding down to put Xaverian back up 12 points in what would end up being a 67-52 win over Molloy in CHSAA Class AA boys basketball Tuesday afternoon in Briarwood. The clutch shot came with 2:52 left and Xaverian clinging to a 56-46 lead.
Denis Gostev
Xaverian's Dillon Burns had 21 points and a dagger jumper with the shot clock winding down in the fourth.

“I felt like that changed the game,” the C.W. Post-bound Burns said. “We were struggling to score offensively and I thought that shot was really like a dagger.”

Xaverian (11-5, 4-3 ‘AA’) would roll from there. Burns finished with 21 points, SMU-bound sniper Brian Bernardi had 18 points and unsung junior George Lambert had 10 of his 16 points in the second half for the Clippers.

Molloy (10-9, 1-5), which was led by Marko Kozul and Morrell Gaskins (11 points each), went to a triangle-and-two defense on Burns and Bernardi and Lambert, who can also knock down 3-pointers, was exceptional in attacking the basket.

“I think he really picked it up for us,” Burns said. “There are a lot of teams that leave him open and I think that’s stupid. He’s very versatile and he gets to the hoop good.”

After a 14-all first quarter, Xaverian absolutely exploded in the second, outscoring Molloy, 29-9, to open up a 43-23 lead at the half. The Stanners shot just 4-of-14 from the free throw line in the frame and 8-of-18 before the break. Alesi credited his team’s defense and execution as the catalysts for the run.

“I didn’t know that we were up by 20,” Lambert said. “I looked at the score and was like, ‘Wow, we’re scoring a lot of points.’”

Burns scored a lot of those – 33, to be exact – Sunday in a 76-70 win over Christ the King. That was a signature victory for Xaverian and there was certainly no letdown Tuesday against Molloy, a tough team to play at home. The Clippers host St. Francis Prep on Friday night.

“I sense it that we’re about to turn the corner here,” Alesi said. “I’m seeing things I didn’t see earlier in the year. But I’m from Missouri – you gotta show me.”

Burns had a pretty nice demonstration of his ability, sticking that clutch jumper right in a defender’s face with the shot clock at one second. Between him and Bernardi, Xaverian is not at a loss for guys who can come up with big plays like that.

“He’s been doing it his whole life and especially this year,” Alesi said of Burns. “At the end of the possession, we have two pretty good guys to get the ball to.”

And now two pretty good wins to hang their hat on.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_sch ... z1kUJ9LUOm

[hoopmanx]

Just as an add-on, Bernardi covered Calhoun, who is NYC's best guard. He had 4 blocks, 9 or 10 boards and 7 assists, to go w/his 14 pts. Burns is having a great year b/c his man is helping double Bernardi. They have nothing inside.

[Charleston Pony]

Ponyfans are going to like this guy

[hoopmanx]

Ponyfans are going to like this guy

Bernardi is gold in our current system, as is Blaise. Bernardi has lethal skills, and huge drive. He's also not afraid to drive & initiate & absorb contact. Not a slasher, but has the pump & mid range game.

Now, I keep harping on our need for slashers, so I'm hopeful Uche can help in that way. Its pretty much his rep. Throw in Nick Russell, and we've addressed a slew of issues.

'13 has to be huge.

[ponyscott]

Brian had 25 points on Senior night at Xaverian HS this week...good photo of Brian......looks a lot stronger physically:

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_sch ... 083tuUg3rO