New Look Brookline Squad Battles Through Growing Pains

By Eliot Schickler

Growing pains were the phrase to describe the 2023-24 Brookline High girls basketball team.

With only three returning players having varsity experience, Brookline knew that the year would be a challenge.

The Warriors, who had two straight outstanding seasons with seven mainstays from the Class of 2023, lost their top players, three who played during their freshman year in college, went from being a state force to a rebuilding year, finishing the season with a 1-19 record.

“Most of our players were learning what it’s like to play on varsity last year,” Brookline Coach Kendell Jones said. They had to adjust to playing at a faster speed and more skilled players.”

Losing Margo Mattes, Gianna Bryant, Talia Thompson, Faith Rothstein, Jenna Lazowski, Iris Liebman, and Delaney Costello led to the 2023-24 team being very inexperienced, which created hardships on the court for the Post-2023 Warriors.

Mattes led Brookline to new heights in her two years on the team after moving here from a Cincinnati Suburb. She was on the Boston Globe All-Scholastic Super Team her senior year before playing a year at Princeton University but elected not to play her sophomore year to focus on other things. The Warriors were 15-5 and 16-4 in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 regular seasons and won a playoff game both years.

Bryant spearheaded the defense, earning All-Bay State Conference her junior and senior years. She’s currently playing for Franklin Pierce University.

Thompson and Rothstein were starters in both years and were Honorable Mention in the Bay State Conference in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively. They were both multi-sport athletes with Thompson starring in net for the girls' soccer team, and Rothstein being a key player for the girls
lacrosse team.

The two former Pierce School, Class of 2019, students, continued their athletic careers in college. Thompson is playing varsity soccer and basketball for Colby College while Rothstein is playing club lacrosse for Temple University.

Two more players on the 2019 Champion Pierce School team were Lazowski and Liebman. Lazowski was the sixth man for Brookline during her last two years and was a solid contributor who energized the team. She’s currently playing rugby for Tulane University.

Liebman was a reliable teammate who hit the occasional 3-pointer and played tough defense. Despite battling injuries, Costello was a hard-nosed defender who helped the Warriors with her scrappy playing style.

The three returning players with varsity experience were Gigi McMahon, Olivia Mataraza, and Olivia Zanini. McMahon was a starter during both of Brookline’s glory years, while Mataraza and Zanini each saw occasional playing time.

“We’re a young team and learning on the go,” McMahon said.

Mataraza said, “It takes time for us to adjust to the varsity level, but we’re improving every day.”

Despite being undersized, McMahon was a hard-nosed frontcourt player who was a tough rebounder and defender going up against bigger girls. At 6’2, Mataraza has been the tallest player on the team since she moved up to varsity her freshman year and has used her height to her
advantage on both ends of the court. Zanini has been a top defender and capable of draining 3-pointers at key times.

Also playing varsity in 2023-24 with limited experience before the year began were Stephanie Gravely, Kyrieh Simmons, Nefeli Aga-Kitch, and Ivy Wheeler. Gravely, who is strong and tough, was a frontcourt player. Despite being small, Simmons is speedy and smart and uses her intelligence to her advantage on many occasions.

Aga-Kitch and Wheeler are both guards and were moved up to varsity for the last two regular season games of 2022-23 and got a taste of varsity play. In their first full year on the team, Aga-Kitch had a few games where she exploded on offense, finishing a few games in double figures in a
few games. Wheeler did everything for Brookline from scoring to playing hard-nosed defense.

The rest of the team was completely new to the varsity game. Jada Kimbro was the starting point guard and earned All-Bay State Conference Honorable Mention. Kimbro was a deft ballhandler and a reliable scorer for the team.

Julia Dencker and Vivianna McDonald gave the Warriors an inside presence off the bench as first-year varsity players. Amelie Hauner and Sylvie Kostant-Greeley hit timely 3-pointers for Brookline. Izzy Wood moved up to varsity in the middle of the year and helped the Warriors with
her speed.