All 12 Players Lift Brookline Past Boston Latin

By Eliot Schickler

All 12 players for the Brookline High girls' basketball team contributed towards the home
victory over Boston Latin High.

Brookline, which raised its record to 5-6 in its 55-48 triumph on January 16, showed cohesion in turning a pesky Latin team, who dropped to 3-6.

It wasn’t easy for the Warriors early in the game because their usual rebounding woes and turnovers plagued them. Wolfpack sophomore forward Chisom Jones (21 points, 15 rebounds) gave Brookline fits and kept Latin in the game.

Senior quad-captain Olivia Zanini (five points, one rebound, one forced turnover, one tie-up) did all the little things to keep the Warriors in the game in the first quarter. Zanini hit a 3-pointer and
a layup, and did plenty with her all-around hustle which wasn’t reflected in the scoreboard.

There were seven ties and four lead changes – all of them in the first 12 minutes of the game. The Wolfpack led 13-12 after one quarter, and their advantage peaked at four – 20-16 on layups by junior Mia Sarvalis (10 points) and sophomore Kenzie O’Brien (five points).

The Warriors answered with a 7-0 surge with layups by junior Jada Kimbro and junior quad-captain Nefeli Aga-Kitch and took the lead for good when senior Kyrieh Simmons swished a trey.

“It was a great team win,” Brookline Coach Kendell Jones said. “We had a bump here and there, but we came on strong near the end.”

Jones and his staff never scouted Latin, which made it even more challenging for his team. Slowly but surely, the coaching staff and players figured things out.

“We had no film and scouting report on them, so we had to learn on the fly in how to defend them,” Jones said. “We figured it out by the second quarter, and played an aggressive man-to-man defense.”

One part of the Warriors’ game that worked well throughout the night was their defense, which forced 35 Wolfpack turnovers—18 in the first half. Brookline’s defense led to offense on many occasions.

Kimbro led the defensive attack with nine forced turnovers and three steals. She forced a traveling violation before the ensuing possession which led to her layup to start the rally.

“I wanted to set the tone on defense by playing aggressively, and I didn’t want them to set the tone on offense,” Kimbro said.

Sophomore guard Izzy Wood (two points, three rebounds, three assists, seven forced turnovers, one steal) is another pesky Warrior who gives opposing offenses fits. Wood forced a Wolfpack turnover which led to a Simmons (three points, two steals, one forced turnover), and on the
transition, Wood set up Aga-Kitch’s (eight points, nine rebounds, six assists, seven steals, two forced turnovers) layup which tied the game at 20-20.

Senior backup center Julia Dencker (two forced turnovers) forced a turnover on the following Latin possession, leading to Simmons’ second steal of the game, but Brookline didn’t capitalize. Enter Kimbro and Wood, who are developing into a dynamic duo in forcing mistakes – this time – they forced a Wolfpack 5-second violation.

Following this Latin miscue, Aga-Kitch set up Simmons’ triple which gave the Warriors their 23-20 lead with 4:20 remaining in the second quarter.

Speaking about Aga-Kitch, she was throwing dimes all game. The one mistake the Class ’2026 made in the Powder Puff football game was starting her at tight end. If they want to beat the Class of 2027 next November, they should start her at quarterback.

The Class ’2026 Powder Puff Coach isn’t the only one who should start the 5’6 Aga-Kitch at quarterback. Perhaps Brookline football coach Chad Hunte should also consider recruiting her to play quarterback for him next fall.

Aga-Kitch showed she has a cannon for an arm by throwing long dimes, which resembled
touchdown passes to set up layups by Wood and Kimbro in the first half. Her first bomb to Wood kept the Warriors in the game when it was tight, and her second long ball to Kimbro increased their lead to six, 29-23. Brookline led 36-28 at the half.

“I’ve thrown before in practice, but I haven’t thrown in a game, but the opportunity presented itself, and I was able to get them the ball,” Aga-Kitch said.

“Nefeli and I work on this in practice, and she has a good arm,” Kimbro said. “She sent me a good pass, and I did the rest.”

Aga-Kitch would have set up more baskets on this play if it weren’t for a few missed layups.

“The opportunity presented itself, and we decided to go deep,” said Jones, who deftly called the plays.

Also wreaking havoc on the defensive end in forcing turnovers was junior quad-captain Ivy
Wheeler (three points, seven forced turnovers, two assists, one tie-up).

Senior quad-captain center Olivia Mataraza (13 points, five rebounds, three forced turnovers, two blocked shots, two altered shots, two steals, one assist) did a great job in controlling the paint for the Warriors. The 6’2 Mataraza adroitly blocked shots and created space, which enabled Aga-Kitch and her other teammates to pull down some timely rebounds.

“It comes from our coaches emphasizing boxing out, which helped me get the rebounds,” Aga-Kitch said.

Brookline broke it open in the second half and pushed its lead up to double digits. Mataraza scored eight points in the third quarter, hitting two buckets each from Aga-Kitch and freshman Skylar Makualusky. Makalusky (six points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals, two forced turnovers) did everything for the Warriors on both ends of the court and will be a force to be reckoned with.

The freshman’s second assist of a Mataraza layup extended the lead to 14, 47-33 after three quarters. This wasn’t Makalusky’s only helper to close out a quarter. She set up junior Jayden Williams’ conventional 3-point play to give Brookline its aforementioned 36-28 halftime lead.

Junior backup center Vivianna McDonald (two rebounds, one assist, one forced turnover) set up Wheeler’s triple with 7:13 remaining in the game to give the Warriors a 50-35 advantage – their biggest lead of the game. Senior Amelie Hauner (one forced turnover, one tie-up) also contributed to the victory.

“We all worked together as a team, which helped us build the lead and win the game,” Kimbro said.