Torrid Brookline Wins Three Straight, Improves to 8-8

By Eliot Schickler

Unlike the weather we’re experiencing, the Brookline High girls' basketball team is hot right now.

Torrid Brookline is butter right now because it's on a roll with three straight victories to raise their record to 8-8 and moved to 20th place in the Division 1 Power Rankings. The Warriors began their winning streak with a 51-36 home victory over Milton High last Friday, January 31, followed by a 47-28 win at Everett High the following day. They culminated their winning streak with a 43-34 win at Wellesley High on Tuesday, February 4.

“It’s a great confidence-booster for the girls,” Brookline Coach Kendell Jones said. “They showed what they could do when they do what they’re taught to do. I’m proud of the girls because they work hard.”

Warriors junior quad-captain Nefeli Aga-Kitch said, “It feels great to win three games straight and finally have an 8-8 record. We were coming close in many games, which resulted in us being 5-8, so I am extremely proud of my team for learning from certain mistakes and being able to go on the winning streak. To see that we are 8-8 which gives us a chance to get into the state tournament solely off of having a 50-50 record [if this momentum continues] while also having a qualifying ranking is extremely rewarding, especially after coming off of a season like last year.”

Brookline used a balanced scoring attack in its win over Milton. Junior Jada Kimbro led the way with 11 points, followed by sophomore Izzy Wood and freshman Skylar Makalusky with nine points each. Senior sharpshooter Amelie Hauner came off the bench and hit two 3-pointers and two free throws to finish with eight points. Aga-Kitch (four points), senior quad-captain starting center Olivia Mataraza (three points), junior backup center Vivanna McDonald (three points), and junior quad-captain Ivy Wheeler (one point) also scored for the Warriors.

“It feels really good to win three straight, as winning by consistency versus by luck was something we were working towards,” Mataraza said.

In the win over Wellesley, Brookline rallied from a 15-5 first-quarter deficit to complete the season-sweep over its Bay State Conference Carey Division opponent. The Warriors inched closer in the second quarter, closing their deficit to seven at the break, 19-12, before exploding for 24 points in the third quarter. Brookline’s 24-5 third-quarter surge catapulted the Warriors to a 36–24 lead after three quarters, giving them momentum for the game, and spoiling the Raiders’ Senior Night.

Kimbro led Brookline with 17 points, including three treys, and Makalusky showed how many strides she’s made with 13 points. Aga-Kitch (seven points) and Mataraza (six points) also scored for the Warriors.

“Obviously I think we are pretty thrilled to have a better record and makes us hopeful to possibly play in the tournament,” Mataraza said.

In the non-conference game at Everett, Brookline used its swarming defense to come away with the victory. The Warriors could have won by more if they didn’t miss too many layups and committed 19 turnovers, but they compensated for their offensive issues by forcing 27 Crimson Tide turnovers.

Brookline led almost the whole way except for a 3-2 deficit after Everett freshman Julianna Rivera swished a triple with 6:41 left in the first quarter. The Warriors took the lead for good, 4-3 when Makalusky hit two free throws, with 4:15 left, kicking off a 9-0 surge to close out the opening frame with an 11-3 lead.

The 6’2 Mataraza (eight points, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots, six forced turnovers, two assists) used her lengths in grabbing rebounds and forcing turnovers. She set up senior quad-captain Olivia Zanini’s jump shot after grabbing two straight offensive rebounds.

“As the person who often has to be in help on the defensive end, I've gotten better at not only reading the player I'm guarding but also the players that are guarding my teammates,” Mataraza said. “Additionally, I have a wingspan that is a little longer than I am tall so that definitely helps.”

Mataraza was also like a human eraser in the way she blocked shots.

“I think Everett was pretty confident with the shots they were choosing to take, so with the high frequency of shots I was able to anticipate better when they would happen,” Mataraza said.

The starting center was also an offensive force, mostly through her rebounding prowess, which enabled her to score second-chance points.

“Our team was shooting 3-pointers pretty much the entire game because of the way Everett defended us so pointwise, I attribute it to sharp cuts as most of the points were jump shots,” Mataraza said. “In terms of rebounding, my understanding of where the ball will drop based on where it is shot from has gotten better over time.”

Zanini (two points, two rebounds, two assists, four forced turnovers, one charge drawn) did all the blue-collar things on the court to help on both ends and fed Mataraza for a jump shot.

Speaking about showing true grit on the court, the 5’6 Aga-Kitch was a force on the glass with a team-high 13 rebounds.

“As a team, we have realized that a weakness of ours is rebounding and our coaches have been stressing boxing out more and more,” Aga-Kitch said. “I think part of my rebounding came from having that boxing out mentality every time a shot went up, while also just putting myself in the right place at the right time.”

Aga-Kitch and senior guard Kyrieh Simmons took turns setting each other up for 3-pointers with Aga-Kitch (14 points, three assists) swishing a trey with 50 seconds to go in the first quarter, and Simmons swishing a trifecta with 6:13 left in the half.

Simmons (five points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals, two forced turnovers) helped out on both ends of the court and after she stole the ball and passed it to Aga-Kitch, Aga-Kitch then set up Simmons’ layup with a dime.

Kimbro (seven points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, one forced turnover) and Wood (three points, four assists, one rebound, one steal, one forced turnover) each took turns setting each other up for triples, which they both swished. Wood also set up Makalusky’s (five points, seven rebounds, two steals, two forced turnovers) floater runner to increase Brookline’s lead to 14 at the break, 29-15.

Senior Emilia Maria Babcock led the Crimson Tide with 16 points. Babcock banked home a trifecta to cut the deficit to 33-23, but Everett never got closer.

Aga-Kitch (six steals, two forced turnovers) led the team in steals and thievery led to transition points for the Warriors.

“Defense is something that we take a lot of pride in as a team and when every teammate is on the right page, that's when the magic happens,” Aga-Kitch said. “Our strong defense led to some bad passes from them, which I was then able to pick off. We also went on many offensive runs, and I think that brought more energy on defense which then contributed to more steals and fast break layups.”

Aga-Kitch was also an offensive force, scoring eight straight points, starting with a layup off an isolation play to close out the scoring in the third quarter to push the lead up to 14, 37-23. She opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a conventional 3-point play off a dime from Wheeler (two points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal, one blocked shot, one forced turnover), and following senior backup center Julia Dencker’s (three rebounds, one blocked shot), Aga-Kitch swished a trifecta off a Simmons assist to push the lead to 20, 43-23.

“For my offense, I think a lot goes out to my team for setting me up and staying confident in me. “Although I didn't make my first few shots, I was still encouraged to shoot which is when they started going in,” Aga-Kitch said. “After seeing the ball go in the basket, it makes me more confident and encourages me to keep going which is how I was able to keep up that scoring.”

She tied a career-high in scoring.

“In some games, my strong suit isn't scoring and in general, I just want to do whatever I can to help my team win, whether that comes from rebounds, assists, steals, or scoring the basketball,” Aga-Kitch added.

Junior Jaden Williams (one point, two forced turnovers, one rebound) and McDonald (one rebound, one assist) also contributed.