Brookline Closes Out Regular Season With a Win

By Eliot Schickler

The Brookline High girls' basketball team closed out the 2024-25 regular season with a 56-43 win over Scituate High.

Brookline parlayed its strong pressure defense in forcing 32 Scituate turnovers – 20 in the first half – in the consolation game of the Notre Dame Academy of Hingham’s 7th Annual JBA Classic on February 17. The Warriors finished the regular season with a 9-11 record – an eight-game improvement from last year, where they went 1-19- and they are the 22nd seed in the Division 1 tournament, where they will play at 11th-seeded Framingham High on Friday, February 28, at 6:30
p.m. The Sailors ended their season at 3-17.

“It’s always good to end the season with a win because it’s good motivation leading up to the tournament,” Brookline Coach Kendell Jones said.

Jones used a two-three trap defense, which created a bakery at the small gymnasium, with Scituate Turnovers being the primary sweet food that his team was serving.

“I told the girls to take it up a notch and to work on traps,” Jones said. “They caused good transition off the turnovers.”

Junior Jada Kimbro, sophomore Izzy Wood, and freshman Skylar Makalusky disproved the theory that having too many cooks in the kitchen is bad. The trio, along with the five other Warriors who saw the court, contradicted this point by showing that three bakers in the kitchen, along with five more assistants, could create a functional kitchen that creates the sweetest delicacy, known as Sailor Turnovers.

“Coming in with a lot of energy led us to get forced turnovers,” Kimbro said. “We played with the mindset of striving to get the ball back.”

Makalusky said, “Defense is about being in the right mindset to play it.”

Wood said, “The one thing you can control in basketball is defense. Even if your shots aren’t falling, defense is about effort, and it’s important to always try your hardest.”

Kimbro (14 points, seven steals, five rebounds, one assist, three forced turnovers) played a pivotal role in producing the finished pastries with timely steals, which led to coast-to-coast layups for
herself and set up Makalusky (12 points, seven rebounds, five steals, four assists, four forced turnovers, one tie-up, one charge drawn) for layups.

“After coming off three tough losses, I wanted to get the win,” Kimbro said. “I played with a lot of energy, I played for myself and for my teammates, which led to getting many forced turnovers.”

Makalusky was a bandit on the court and also hit two 3-pointers.

“I’ve been working on my shots in practice, and I gained confidence shooting,” Makalusky said.

Defense wasn’t Kimbro’s only contribution to the victory. She converted most of her layup attempts, and her outside shot was working, hitting key jump shots, including a trey.

“I’ve been working in the gym on my shots every day, and I saw my shots are getting better, which helps my confidence,” Kimbro said.

Brookline led throughout the game, and its advantage was rarely threatened. Makalusky and Wood (four points, five forced turnovers, two rebounds, three assists, three steals, one tie-up) set up their teammates with dimes all game.

“It’s about playing a lot of basketball together all year,” Wood said. “We’re working hard and growing as a team. We know where each other is on the court.”

The Warriors received stellar play in the paint from their starting center, 6’2 senior quad-captain Olivia Mataraza (eight points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots, two steals, three forced turnovers) scored four points on two putbacks off the offensive glass, and her ability to control the interior freed up Brookline’s guards to do their thing on offense and defense.

“You have to know the people on the court with you,” Mataraza said. “I realized I could get points off of rebounds, and they had me under the glass that game. The other team wasn’t super tall, and
it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.”

Mataraza battled foul trouble all game. Although she didn’t foul out, ending the game with four fouls, at least two of the calls were cheap and shouldn’t have been called, including an offensive foul, which was off-base.

“I have to be careful about not being too aggressive because the referees will look for it,” Mataraza said. “Both teams we played in the tournament played a zone defense, and I had to be careful with the calls.”

Being in foul trouble led to Mataraza spending time on the bench. This paved the way for 5’11 junior backup center Vivianna McDonald (four points, three forced turnovers, one rebound, one assist, one blocked shot) to play many minutes, and she contributed to Brookline in many ways. McDonald was deft in using her length in helping the defense force turnovers.

Scituate tried to make a game of it and cut the deficit to six on two occasions, 41-35, 44-38, but Brookline junior quad-captain Nefeli Aga-Kitch (11 points, three rebounds, two steals, two forced
turnovers) came alive in the final quarter, scoring eight of her 11 points in the final frame. Six of Aga-Kitch’s points in the penultimate quarter came on two trifectas, one where the bank was
open for her.

“In terms of my own scoring, in the first three quarters, I wasn't able to find my shot easily.”
Aga-Kitch said. “But, in the fourth, Liv [Mataraza] set me some good ball screens, and the defense sagged off, so I was confident to shoot those threes and also take the ball to the basket. Despite my previous low-scoring quarters, I'm always ready for new opportunities, and I'm grateful to have been able to help my team seal the win.”

Junior quad-captain Ivy Wheeler (five points, three rebounds, two steals, one assist, four forced turnovers, one charge drawn) and senior Kyrieh Simmons (two steals, two forced turnovers) deftly performed the intangibles, which weren’t reflected in the stat sheet. Wheeler banked in a triple off a Makalusky feed in the opening quarter.

“I am very proud of our team for winning our last game because it's definitely very helpful to have that burst of energy and heightened morale before playoffs,” Aga-Kitch said. “We came off with a
strong start and were able to convert on fast break layups, making the appropriate passes to our open teammates and locking down on defense.”

Brookline overcame too many missed layups in holding the Sailors at bay.

“We couldn’t put the ball in the hole,” Jones said. “They may have been nervous and were overthinking, which affected their ability to finish.”

The Warriors also committed 20 turnovers. Their ability to overcome their offensive miscues will help them going forward.

“Again, in terms of our morale, this win has made us more confident for the playoffs,” Aga-Kitch said. “It reinforces the idea that when we are all doing our part, the pieces click, and we can get it done on the court.”

Mataraza said, “It’s definitely good to finish the year with a win.”

Warriors Lose to NDA

One day before its win over Scituate, Brookline lost 48-27 to the Notre Dame Academy Cougars in the opening round of the tournament. Notre Dame finished the regular season at 19-1 after it beat East Bridgewater High, 59-56, in the championship game of its tournament. The Cougars are the fourth-seed in the Division 2 tournament and hosts 36th-seeded Ursuline Academy (11-10) on Friday, February 28, at 6 p.m. in the first round of the tournament.

“Notre Dame has a great point guard, and we were focused on transition defense,” Mataraza said. “We may not have been as ready going into that game like we were against Scituate.”

The Warriors missed many layups against Notre Dame and committed only 16 turnovers, which is a relatively low number for them in a 21-point setback. Wood (three assists, two steals, one rebound, two forced turnovers) and Kimbro (five steals, four rebounds, four assists, one forced turnover) led Brookiine’s offense with 10 points each.

“It comes from playing a lot of basketball with this group,” said Wood on the key to her scoring output. “We have grown as a team, and we know where each other is on the court.”

Aga-Kitch (five rebounds, two steals, one assist, three forced turnovers, one charge drawn), Makalusky (three rebounds, one assist, one steal, one forced turnover), and McDonald (one rebound, one blocked shot) each scored two points. Mataraza (three rebounds, two blocked shots, one point) and Simmons (three forced turnovers, one assist) also contributed to the team in the loss.

Although the Warriors struggled on offense, they played well on defense, forcing 17 Cougar turnovers.

Brookline Hopes The Third Time Is a Charm VS Framingham

During the regular season, Brookline lost twice to Framingham, 47-38 on the road on January 7 and 56-34 at home on February 11, which was Senior Night.

“We haven’t been to the tournament since Margo [Mattes] and Geanna [Bryant] were here, and we won’t underestimate what it’s like to play in these games,” Mataraza said. “We know we’ll have to
work hard in preparing for the playoffs, and we’ll be ready.”

The Warrior center is referring to the glory days of 2021-22 and 2022-23 when Mattes and Bryant led Brookline to the second round of the Division 1 tournament, finishing both years at 16-6 and 17-5, respectively.

“We've proven that we can keep up with Framingham as we lost in a very close game the first time and beat them in the second half the second time,” Aga-Kitch said. “We just have to come out with a lot of energy, which I believe we are more than capable of. It's an advantage to not have to learn about a whole new team because we are familiar with Framingham's playing style, and we can be more prepared for the game.”

Jones said, “We are going to walk into Framingham prepared to win.”

Mataraza said, “Framingham plays both a zone and man offense, but to advance, we need to be able to run our own offense no matter how they choose to defend us. We struggled a lot in our last game getting points on the board in the first half which contributed to our loss.

Framingham plays both a zone and man offense, but to advance, we need to be able to run our own offense no matter how they choose to defend us. We struggled a lot in our last game getting points on the board in the first half which contributed to our loss.

“Framingham plays both a zone and man offense, but to advance, we need to be able to run our own offense no matter how they choose to defend us. We struggled a lot in our last game getting points on the board in the first half which contributed to our loss.

Although part of the fun of the tournament is playing teams you wouldn't really play, it's good to know we can limit the surprises by playing a team we have already played before. We know how they play us, so this week was just a matter of refining things.”

Knowing how the Flyers play will serve the Warriors well.

“Framingham plays both a zone and man offense, but to advance, we need to be able to run our own offense no matter how they choose to defend us,” Mataraza said. “We struggled a lot in our last game getting points on the board in the first half which contributed to our loss.”