Second Half Collapse Cements Brookline Loss to Rival Newton North

By Eliot Schickler

A nightmarish second half was the undoing for the Brookline High girls basketball team in its loss at Newton North High.

After hanging tough with its rivals in the first 16 minutes of the game, Brookline, which trailed 28-27 at halftime to Newton North on February 7, struggled after the break and lost 62-41.

Junior quad-captain Nefeli Aga-Kitch kept the Warriors in the game in the first by scoring 12 of her new career-high 15 points, including three of her four 3-pointers for the game.

“Although I’m happy to have been able to score, I’m ultimately just looking for a win, so despite getting a lot of points, I still am more focused on the loss and how to improve for the next game,” Aga-Kitch said.

There were two ties and four lead changes, all of which happened in the first half. The last deadlock occurred with 7:30 remaining in the half when Aga-Kitch swished her second triple of the game to knot things at 12-12 off a feed from junior quad-captain Ivy Wheeler (one point, two rebounds, two assists, one forced turnover).

The Tigers took the lead for good when senior quad-captain Devon Burke immediately answered Aga-Kitch’s trey with a layup. Burke’s basket kicked off an 8-0 run for Newton North and capped it with a coast-to-coast layup off a steal with 4:27 left.

Brookline battled back and cut the deficit to one point on four occasions, with senior quad-captain Olivia Mataraza trimming the gap to a single point three of the four times. Mataraza (nine points, nine rebounds, one blocked shot, one forced turnover), a 6’2 center, used her height to her advantage, and her putback got the Warriors within one for the first time on a putback off the offensive glass.

Aga-Kitch closed the gap the other time to one, hitting a layup off a dime from sophomore Izzy Wood. Wood set up a Mataraza layup that made it 27-26 with 37.6 seconds to go.

What the scrappy Wood (four rebounds, four assists, two steals, two forced turnovers) lacks in size, she more than compensates with her tenacity and hard-nosed play. She clawed her way toward the glass, and her defense gave the Tigers fits.

Brookline freshman Skylar Makalusky is a guard by trade, but at 5’11, she performs many functions that a frontcourt player normally does. Makalusky (10 points, five rebounds, three steals, one blocked shot, one assist, one forced turnover, one tie-up) scored seven of her 10 points in the opening half, including the first of her two trifectas on the day. The freshman played well defensively, both in the paint and on the perimeter.

Senior quad-captain guard Olivia Zanini (two rebounds, one assist, one forced turnover) energized the Warriors off the bench and did many things that weren’t reflected in the
stat sheet.

“I think the team was able to succeed in the first half because of our aggression and strong defense,” Aga-Kitch said. “They had some strong players who we were able to shut out of the game, and then we converted on offense, moving the ball until we got open shots. I was able to find driving lanes and spots to shoot from, and that’s when the shots were going in.”

Overall, Brookline’s strong defense led to 15 Newton North turnovers, most of the miscues happened in the first half. However, the Warriors committed 18 turnovers with their share of many poor passes and inability to handle the Tigers’ press defense.

Burke, who finished the game with 27 points, opened the scoring in the third quarter with a coast-to-coast layup off of a steal, which opened an 8-0 surge. Junior quad-captain sharpshooter Nikita Rao capped Newton North’s surge by canning a trey.

Aga-Kitch (six rebounds, three assists, two forced turnovers) did everything Brookline was a force under the glass despite being only 5’6. She ended the surge by swishing a trifecta off a feed from junior Jada Kimbro.

The closest the Warriors got after that was four points when Makalusky, who’s made plenty of progress and has a bright future, swished a triple off a dime from Wheeler to make it 41-37 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

Rao answered with a layup, which kicked off a 12-0 run to give the Tigers a 53-37 advantage, which put the game away.

“In terms of the second half, Newton [North] adjusted to a zone which we had trouble scoring on,” Aga-Kitch said. “The driving lanes were hard to find, and we had to take some awkward shots. I think our defense remained strong, but on offense, due to their change in defense, we turned it over a lot. I think they are a very talented team and the last time we played them, they beat us with that skill, as one of their players hit 10 threes. However, this time around, I think we beat ourselves. We are still a great team who did many good things, but our turnovers were costly because the majority of their points came off of fast breaks or open layups.”

Kimbro (six points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal, two forced turnovers, one tie-up), who played well defensively, ended Newton North’s streak with a free throw. Senior backup center Julia
Dencker was an inside force for Brookline. The 5’10 Dencker (three rebounds, three blocked shots, one assist, one tie-up) didn’t let anything get past her in showing her fierceness in the paint.

Also contributing for Brookline were seniors Kyrieh Simmons and Amelie Hauner, along with juniors Jayden Williams and Vivianna McDonald.

“However, I’m still very proud of our team for our execution in the first half, and I believe with that same intensity and aggression, we can win our last couple of games,” Aga-Kitch said.