Berry leads Malverne to Class B title
Andre Berry #55 of Malverne drives against Bryan Wilson #25 of The Wheatley School during the boys Nassau High School Basketball Class B Finals. (Feb. 24, 2011) Credit: Jim McIsaac
For Malverne, the strategy was to think inside the box.
"They didn't have size. It was our game plan to get the ball inside," Mules coach Darrol Lopez said. "We just didn't know who would do the scoring."
It turned out to be 6-5 sophomore Andre Berry who came off the bench to exploit Malverne's huge height advantage over Wheatley. Berry scored a career-high 24 points, including 8 of 10 free throws, as Malverne won its sixth consecutive Nassau Class B championship, 69-49, Thursday night at C.W. Post's Pratt Center.
Malverne (18-1) will play the winner of tonight's Suffolk Class B title game between Mattituck and Center Moriches in the Long Island championship on March 9 at SUNY-Old Westbury. Wheatley is 10-9.
"I knew I had to be in the box," Berry said of the paint area where he camped his big body and dominated the Wildcats, who had no player taller than 6-1 to prevent the damage.
It took one half before the Mules' tactics took their toll. Malverne played its usual press-and-run style in the first two quarters, but didn't shoot well and had too many turnovers. They had to close the half with a 10-2 run to lead 31-23 at the break, led by senior guard Cory Alexander, who scored 16 first-half points.
At times in the first half, Alexander seemed to be the only player on either team in synch. "He plays at another speed. He has a second and a third gear," Lopez said of his team's leading scorer.
However, Alexander admitted he had to downshift in the second half. "I was doing a little too much scoring. I needed to facilitate and get other people involved," said Alexander who scored only one point in the second half but made sure his dump-down passes were Berry good.
"We knew we were more athletic and we knew we could tire them out," Alexander said. "We knew we had to get the ball to Andre and he showed what he could do."
What Berry can do now is catch the ball, turn and shoot. He's also money from the foul line. The coaching staff will work on his strength and jumping. "We expect big things from him in the future," Lopez said. "He's already got soft hands and a good touch."
Berry demonstrated that in the third quarter when Malverne broke it open. The Mules led 38-30 with 3:26 left in the period, as Wheatley proved stubborn. But Berry scored eight points, including a three-point play, to key a 13-3 run to close out the quarter.
Berry then scored eight straight points early in the fourth quarter, including a foul-line jumper that provided the largest lead of the night at 63-34. "I was feeling it and they kept feeding me," Berry said.
