One of the nation’s premier point guards will not be on the court for the next month.

Lake Highland Prep’s Joel Berry tore his left meniscus Saturday night in the championship game of the Rotary Tip-Off Classic.

“A lot of guys get this injury and bounce back from it,” said Berry, who is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. “I’m just looking forward to doing the rehab and getting back out here to play.”

Berry, who averaged 29 points during last week’s tournament, sustained the injury during the first half of the finals against Boone. 

Berry said he came down with a rebound and felt something weird in his left knee. He played for the remainder of the game and woke up Sunday in a lot of pain.

Berry underwent an MRI on Monday that showed a torn meniscus. He will undergo surgery Thursday afternoon.

Coach Jeff Turner expects his team to step up in Berry’s absence and knows this bit of adversity will only strengthen his Highlanders (5-0).

“This is a great opportunity for some of our other players to really step up in a new role,” Turner said. “Obviously we have a huge void to fill with Joel out for about a month and so they will gain experience and I’ve got to believe that that is really going to make us a whole lot stronger.”

This is the first serious injury the 6’1 junior point guard has experienced in his basketball career.

“I’ll be back stronger than I am now and this is great for me because I get a chance to rest from this summer being overseas,” Berry explained. “So I’ll be coming back and once I comeback we’ll be heading to the states.”

Despina Barton is reporter for Bright House Sports Network. You may reach her at Despina.Barton@bhsn.com or on Twitter @DespinaBarton.