Mataraza’s Defense, Kimbro’s Offense, Lead Brookline 2nd-Half Comeback

By Eliot Schickler

Olivia Mataraza and Jada Kimbro each wore the heroine’s cape in leading the Brookline High girls basketball team to a 31-24 come-from-behind home victory over Wellesley High on December 19.

Brookline trailed 18-8 at halftime, but in the second half, it cut down on its turnovers, and played lockdown defense, holding Wellesley to a mere six points after the break, raising its record to 1-2, while dropping the Red Raiders to 2-1. Last year, the Warriors didn’t win their first game until February 2, which was a 37-35 overtime victory at Milton Hilton High in their 16th game of the year where they finished 1-19.

“It’s a pretty good thing, but my expectations are higher than that this year,” Brookline Coach Kendell Jones said. “We should be all right this year as long as we work hard, and continue to gel.”

The senior quad-captain center Mataraza and junior point guard Kimbro each scored zero points in the first half, in which Brookline had only eight points while committing 13 turnovers. The Warriors were held to only two points in the second quarter, both on free throws by junior
quad-captain Ivy Wheeler (four rebounds, three steals, one forced turnover).

Although Brookline struggled on offense in the opening half, it limited the damage by playing solid defense, forcing 10 Wellesley turnovers in the first 16 minutes of the game. Freshman Makalusky (three points, two rebounds, two steals, two blocked shots, two forced turnovers) and senior quad-captain Olivia Zanini (three points, three rebounds) both hit 3-pointers in the first quarter to give the Warriors a 6-2 lead with 1:21 remaining in the first quarter.

However, they weren’t able to stop Red Raiders senior co-captain Laura Girourard, who scored all of her 14 points, including three treys in the first half. Girourard’s strong first half catapulted Wellesley to its 10-point lead.

Things changed for Brookline in the second half where it came out with much more energy than it had at the break. Mataraza began the second half with a defensive rebound with the help of Makalusky boxing out, and the captain followed with a layup on the other end of the court. Kimbro
followed by a coast-to-coast layup.

This was only the beginning that this dynamic duo would accomplish. The 6’2 Mataraza (six points, five blocked shots, two steals) used her length to her advantage in producing a double-double with 13 rebounds and 10 forced turnovers, which doesn’t include deflected passes, which led to good things for the Warriors.

“Olivia affects the game in so many ways, and it’s a matter of putting her in the right position,” Jones said.

Wellesley tried to attack the middle, but did so at its peril, because of Mataraza’s dominating prowess.

“We found a defense that works for us, and I’m optimistic,” Mataraza said. “Definitely with our zone this year, I figure to create a problem if they go to the middle.”

Kimbro said, “Olivia was very big for us and stepped it up.”

While Brookline’s defense was good in the first half, it was even better in the second half. Not only did the Warriors limit the Red Raiders to six points after the break, but they also forced 13 turnovers after the break. Wellesley finished the game with 23 giveaways.

“We went to our locker room at halftime and we were honest with each other,” Mataraza said. “We knew we had to be more awake and play with more energy.”

Jones said, “I didn’t change much. What I asked of them at halftime was to have an out-of-body experience. I told them to talk on defense and trust the system.”

Once Brookline’s defense went from good to near-perfect, its offense improved too. The Warriors had only five, second-half turnovers, and finished the game with 18 miscues.

“We work on handling the ball better in practice,” Kimbro said.

Kimbro (11 points, five steals, three rebounds, two forced turnovers, two tie-ups) was the chief beneficiary of the transition game.

“Jada is good in the transition game, and she turned our defense into offense,” Jones said.

Mataraza echoed her coach’s thoughts and said, “Jada helped turn our defense into offense.”

Sophomore Izzy Wood (three points, four assists, two steals, one rebound, three forced turnovers, one tie-up) was also a defensive spark for the Warriors and deftly set up her teammates. Wood fed Kimbro for a layup after intercepting a pass.

Brookline tied it when Mataraza’s kick-out pass set up junior quad-captain Nefeli Aga-Kitch’s layup plus the foul. Aga-Kitch (three points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals, four forced turnovers) made the free throw for the conventional 3-point play, which tied the game at 20-20 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

Kimbro immediately followed with a layup off a steal from midcourt to give the Warriors a 22-20 lead, their first advantage since they were up 6-5 in the first quarter.

“It’s the motivation of wanting the ball, and wanting to help my team,” Kimbro said.

Freshman Eloise Haverkamp’s jump shot tied it at 22-22 for Wellesley, which was the score after three quarters. However, Brookline had the momentum and held its Bay State Conference rivals to only two points in the final quarter.

The Warriors missed easy shots, which prevented them from taking the lead early in the quarter, but their defense remained strong.

“We missed a lot of open shots, but we played well in transition and did well in the halfcourt set,” Jones said.

Mataraza is playing like a First Team All-Bay State Conference All-Star this year but she believes there’s room for improvement in her game too.

“I need to do a better job at finishing,” she said. “Once I get it down, we’ll do well.”

Brookline took the lead for good after Aga-Kitch forced a turnover, which landed in Wood’s hands, who then set up Kimbro’s transition layup. Kimbro added a putback off the offensive glass to give the Warriors a four-point lead, 26-22.

“I just want to win, and I had the confidence from my coaches I can do it,” Kimbro said.

Mataraza did the rest on offense for the team in the final quarter. She hit a layup from Wood after the latter grabbed an offensive rebound, and was 3-for-4 from the free throw line.

Equaling last year’s win total in only the third game of the season gave Brookline a feel-good moment going into the holidays.

“It shows us what we’re capable of doing,” Mataraza said. “We didn’t know what we could do last year. We were excited when the game ended.”

Warriors Fall to Needham

Despite coming back from a double-digit, Brookline lost 41-32 at Needham High on December
17. Needham opened the game with a 10-0 lead before the Warriors stormed back to take an 18-17 halftime lead. Brookline led 26-23 after three quarters but was cold down the stretch. A 9-1 run propelled the Rockets to pull away from the Warriors late in the fourth quarter.

Wood (four rebounds, two assists, two steals, three forced turnovers) led Brookline with 13 points, her first high school-level game finishing in double figures. Mataraza (seven points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots, four forced turnovers, one steal) was an inside force.

Kimbro (five points, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal, one blocked shot, two forced turnovers) showed tenacity all game. Makalusky (four points, one rebound, one assist, one steal, one forced turnover) made her first high school field goal.

Aga-Kitch (three points, seven rebounds, two steals) rounded out the scoring. Wheeler (four rebounds, two forced turnovers, one assist, one steal) and Zanini (one assist, one forced turnover) also contributed.