The girls varsity basketball team (5-3) took care of business at home against Braintree High School (3-7), winning 47-24 in the Schluntz Gymnasium on Friday, Jan. 20. Though the game was frenetic at first, Brookline was nearly unstoppable once they found their stride.

Senior and co-captain Margo Mattes kicked off the game with a strong tip and, a minute later, a powerful finish at the rim after a steal from senior and co-captain Geanna Bryant.

Bryant settled into the game early, racking up multiple steals and a contested layup within the game’s opening minute and a half.

Braintree responded with a three-pointer of their own and managed to keep Brookline’s offense at bay throughout the first half of the game, though a bit of rust from beyond the three point line showed the home side wasn’t warmed up yet.

It took a well-timed three-pointer from Bryant, a free throw from senior and co-captain Talia Thompson and a majestic step-back three-pointer from Mattes to get Brookline into gear. Braintree finally broke down their three-two zone defense with a buzzer-beater to end the quarter 11-7 for Brookline.

After a defensive slip which gave Braintree an easy shot from the paint early in the second, Brookline’s scoring machine came roaring to life, with Bryant and Mattes combining for seven points in just under two minutes. A highlight of the night, Mattes dished a behind-the-back pass perfectly into Thompson’s path for a beautiful layup.

Though it was Mattes and Bryant with the vast majority of the team’s 23 points heading into halftime, it was the off-the-ball work and solid fundamentals from the entire starting five that rounded out a dominant first half for Brookline, with Braintree scoring 11 in the first half.

After an enthusiastic performance by the cheer team, Brookline and Braintree reentered the court with high spirits and the audience in anticipation.

Thirty seconds into the start of the third quarter, Braintree freshman and guard Sophia Rotondo returned stronger, executing a clean layup. Brookline took this two point gain as an incentive to focus on their defense for the remainder of the second half.

Mattes said that she was proud to see that the team’s efforts in creating a stronger defense were displayed in this match.

“Our identity as a team is defense, so being able to come out and hold a team off by so many points highlights exactly that. [The team has] been working a lot on our press, our different types of defense and being able to shift from man-to-man to zone in a moment’s notice to catch the other team off guard,” Mattes said.

Bryant showed impressive man-to-man defense when blocking Rotondo from scoring a second time within the minute. Bryant immediately followed up with a foul shot and a three-pointer, bringing Brookline up to an easy 15 point lead.

With several long passes across the court and a flawless three-pointer by Mattes, Brookline soared over the 40 point mark with one minute left until the end of the third quarter. Remaining hopeful, Braintree head coach Eugene Buczynski called a time-out with under 20 seconds left on the clock, but Braintree was ultimately unable to regain possession before the sound of the buzzer.

These strong defensive efforts by Brookline during the third quarter affected the team’s stamina in the last eight minutes of the game.

It took another two minutes before Bryant was able to score a three-pointer again, making it the second to last of the game for Brookline.

Despite amassing only half as many points as their opponent, Braintree remained persistent until the last minute. They were able to break through Brookline’s tough defensive wall and make four consecutive shots without Brookline gaining a further lead. This drew the final score of the game to 47-24, making it a landslide win for Brookline.

Mattes said this game showed a lot of improvement from the parallel match against Braintree last year due to her and her teammates’ hard work.

“Last year when we played them, we had a lead, but we let the lead go; we were able to scrap out a win at the end,” Mattes said. “But for us to get a lead early in this game and then maintain it shows how much we’ve improved from last year.”

Girls varsity basketball head coach Kendell Jones said that although this was an easy win for Brookline, they shouldn’t let this get to their head before tougher games later in the season.

“We’re a good team, and we should know that, but every night a team is coming to knock our heads off. We can no longer hide no more, they know that we’re a great team,” Jones said. “So every time we play, I always say the little things add up to the big wins.”