Warriors Thrive With Mataraza on The Court, Struggle Without Her

By Eliot Schickler

It was a tale of two different games when the Brookline High girls' basketball team opened its season at home against Natick High.

When 6’2 center senior quad-captain Olivia Mataraza was on the floor, Brookline did well and controlled the game, but when she was on the bench because of foul trouble, the Warriors struggled on Friday, December 13. As a result, Natick won the season-opener, 59-33.

‘Olivia getting four fouls hurt us because she brought the energy to the floor,” Brookline Coach Kendell Jones said. “She played well, but the key is not to get her into foul trouble.”

At least two of Mataraza’s fouls could be attributed to how tight the referees officiated the game, but they didn’t cost the Warriors because they called it tight on both ends of the floor. Unfortunately for Brookline, led to its top player, who was its bread and butter on both ends of the court, sitting on the bench for long stretches.

“Going forward, I have to play smarter, and avoid foul trouble,” Mataraza said. “I have to learn how to adjust and stay in the game as long as I can. I need to work on my conditioning so I can be there for my teammates as long as I can.”

The Warriors outscored the Redhawks, 15-5 with Mataraza on the court in the first half, but Natick blanked Brookline by a resounding 17-0 score before the break to take a 22-15 halftime lead.

Mataraaza led the Warriors with 19 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots, and a forced turnover. She was in and out of the game in the first quarter after being assessed with two fouls.

Brookline led 6-2 in the first quarter with Mataraza scoring all six points on three layups. Freshman Skylar Makalusky (five steals, three rebounds, two assists, two tie-ups one point, one blocked shot), junior Jada Kimbro (four assists, four rebounds, four forced turnovers, two points, one steal) and senior quad-captain Olivia Zanini (two rebounds, two forced turnovers, one assist) each set up the center’s layups.

Overall, Mataraza had her team’s first eight points, scoring another layup from Kimbro to make it 8-4. Once she committed her second foul, Jones subbed out his 6’2 center, and the Redhawks scored the next seven points to take an 11-8 lead.

Jones immediately put Mataraza back onto the court, and the Warriors closed out the quarter with a 4-0 run to take a 12-11 edge after one stanza. Junior quad-captain Ivy Wheeler (four points, three rebounds, two forced turnovers, one tie-up) hit two free throws and speedy sophomore guard Izzy Woods (six points, three rebounds, three forced turnovers, two assists, two steals) hit a layup after stealing it at midcourt.

“I was very impressed with the energy we brought into the first quarter,” Mataraza said. “We talked more and played like a team. We need to bring this energy into every game.”

The 4-0 run expanded to 6-0 with another Mataraza layup from Kimbro to go up 14-11, but
Natick took advantage of Mataraza receiving a breather with a 6-0 surge to take a 17-14 lead, an advantage it would never relinquish.

After Mataraza was assessed her third foul with 1:56 left in the half, Jones took her out and the Redhawks closed out the half with a 5-0 spurt to go up 22-15.

Early in the second half, the referees called Mataraza for her fourth foul, and that's when the game got out of hand for the Warriors. With the 6’2 center on the bench, the Redhawks’ 25-15 lead mushroomed into a 23-point trouncing with a 42-19 lead after three quarters.

Turnovers also hurt Brookline. The Warriors had 16 first-half turnovers, 37 overall with a whopping 16 in the third quarter alone.

“I think we started strong, but we were inconsistent,” Jones said. “When we broke the press, we did well, but we got away from it.”

While the Warriors struggled on offense, their tenacious defense forced 20 Redhawks turnovers. Junior quad-captain Nefeli Aga-Kitch (four rebounds, four forced turnovers, three tie-ups, one point, one steal, one assist) brought it on defense. Senior Julia Dencker (one rebound, one tie-up)
along with juniors Vivianna McDonald (two rebounds, one forced turnover) and Jayden Williams (one rebound, one steal) also contributed.

Although Mataraza returned and added nine points in the second half, she had to be extra careful to avoid fouling out and had to be less aggressive on defense. Nevertheless, she had a dominating performance, and if she keeps it up, she should be a First Team All-Bay State Conference selection.

“After four years on varsity, I knew it was my chance to do something, and I did what I could to help out,” Mataraza said. “I was able to get open and make the layups.”

Wood was also solid in the second half with four points after the break.