Last modified: Tuesday, March 6, 2007 12:13 AM EST Foxboro's Ed Bernstein (right) drives past Matt Linberg of Oliver Ames earlier this season. (Staff photo by MIKE GEORGE) GOBIS: Bernstein a steady force for Foxboro BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF He isn't the quickest kid on the floor, but he gets to the basket. He isn't the biggest kid, but he plays bigger than his six-foot frame. He scores points, he rebounds, he defends and the Warriors win. That's why Bo Ruggiero has the suitable nickname "Steady Eddie" for Eddie Bernstein, the Foxboro High senior. He plays every position on the basketball floor and has become a lightning rod for the team's postseason success that has landed Foxboro in the semifinal round of the MIAA Division 3-South Sectional Tournament tonight in Braintree against Scituate. "It just seems that every time that we get put in a corner, we come out fighting," said Bernstein over the weekend, after the 18th-seeded Warriors (15-10) upstaged No. 15-seeded, Eastern Athletic Conference champion Bishop Connolly, turned the tables on No. 2 seed and South Shore League champion Abington and overcame seventh-seeded, Catholic Conference champion Archbishop Williams. Roll these numbers around: Bernstein has scored in double figures in 20 of 25 games, having 20 points or more eight times, averaging 14.5 per game. In Foxboro's three tournament games, all on the road mind you, Bernstein is averaging a double-double with 50 points and 34 rebounds. "He's one of the most improved players that I've had - he does everything but collect tickets," Ruggiero said in praise of Bernstein, who started the season as Foxboro's point guard, has played both wing positions and as an off guard and currently is the focal point in the Warriors' 1-3-1 offense at the high post. "He has the longest arms, the strongest hands and the best jumping ability of a kid that size that I've seen," further complimented Ruggiero. "And he's a mentally (Tufts University-bound, ranking No. 15 in the senior class) tough, strong kid." Further proof, Bernstein scored a perfect 800 on the "critical reading" portion of his college boards. And to think that basketball isn't even his best sport, baseball is. A pitcher-infielder, who fashioned a 3-1 record last season, Bernstein will be on the diamond for Tufts. And being as well-rounded as he is, he also plays golf for Foxboro High and has carded a personal-best 40 at the Foxborough Country Club. Bernstein didn't play a minute of varsity basketball as a sophomore, toiling as the point guard for the junior varsity team. Last year with the varsity, he was a step slower than he needed to be at the point guard, so Ruggiero put him at the high post to take advantage of his passing skills, ability to hit the mid-range jumper or take the ball to the basket - which he does, as evidenced by his gaudy total of 173 free throws attempted this season.. "I started this season playing point guard because we had nobody with experience there," said Bernstein. "Then I went to the wing and now I'm at the high post, where if they (foes) bring a big guy on me, I'm usually quicker than him or if they bring a guard, I can dish it off. "I have average speed, I'm not fast by any stretch of the imagination - but I get by a lot of people." And defensively, Bernstein can play both up and back on the press. He is often overmatched, size-wise, but he has a terrific first step and the skill to elevate and beat foes to the backboard for rebounds. "The kid can dunk a ball by taking one step, he elevates so well," said Ruggiero in astonishment. "Against Abington, he posted up a 6-foot-5 kid. Against Archbishop Williams, he shot that little 12-foot jump shot and if you contest that, it's one bounce and he's to the hole." Bernstein and the Warriors started the season late. That is, Drew Connolly, Matt Goode, Ali Mourtada and Kevin McCarthy being key ingredients for the MIAA Division 2 Super Bowl champion Foxboro High football team. The Warriors won five of their six games, won four straight then lost six of its next seven - it has been a bit of a rollercoaster run. "We're where we are because of all the hard work, we've got to keep preparing and it's a lot of fun too," said Bernstein. "I think a lot of it too is because we always wanted everything as kids growing up, we wanted to win." Bernstein has an uncanny knack for making plays. He scored 12 of his 20 points against Archbishop Williams during the first half, keeping the Warriors afloat after they fell behind 13-0 and shot just 9-for-35 from the floor. Then he scored six of Foxboro's first 12 points of the second half. With Bernstein it is in the way that he scores points, the way that he uses his body. For example, he attempt reverse layins knowing that the rim will protect his arm and shot from a defender. And somehow or other, he always finds an alley to get to the ball off the glass. "I could never really shoot," chuckled Bernstein of his rate of accuracy beyond 10-feet or so. "With those bigger kids, you use anything you can to get a shot off - they can't go through the rim to block shots. With the rebounding, it's just a lot of working to get position and to box out." Bernstein believes that it just might be the hours spent on the hardcourts at the Booth Playground, the pickup games where "no blood, no foul" rules that he began acquiring the extra edge, gaining confidence that he could play with the big boys. And more than any specific skill, Bernstein has court awareness, court vision, seemingly having already envisioned the next sequence of events. "I really feel that is where you learn to play, the pickup games," said Bernstein. "You just keep playing and playing, just your friends or whoever is around. I think that having a couple of guys on the football team has helped too, they've experienced the big crowds." Foxboro lost a half-dozen games either on the final possession or in the final minute. "We were pretty much in every game all year, we all felt that there was no team that we can't beat," he continued. "With baseball, it's more you and the batter. Basketball is more of a team thing." That's why Bernstein has had a hand in Foxboro's flight to the Final Four. "I don't know if I'd characterize myself as a basketball player, I'm more of a baseball player," added Bernstein. "It's a lot of fun, even going to practice every day, you've got to keep preparing." Because opportunity presents itself in different ways, Steady Eddie and the Warriors are still playing into March. Who would have thought that? "I don't know what position he is, where he's going to be playing," said Ruggiero, but, "he is the ultimate team player." PETER GOBIS may be contacted at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com