Except for the first half on Saturday, this would’ve been one of those seasons. Matula’s undefeated Comets – who beat Lakota West, 68-66, earlier this season – ended the first quarter on a 10-0 run for a 14-4 lead and extended the advantage to 20-4 on the way to a 59-50 Greater Miami Conference win.
Sophomore guard Margo Mattes scored 23 points and junior center Kyle Oldacre logged a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Mason (11-0, 8-0), which went into the week ranked fourth in the Associated Press Division I state poll. The 6-foot-6 Oldacre’s work in the post helped Mason finish with a 17-7 advantage in second-chance points.
“It’s awesome,” Mattes said. “The first game was back-and-forth. Everybody stepped up today.”
Lakota West junior guard Chance Gray scored 26 points and classmate Amara Flores added 11 for unranked Lakota West (13-3, 9-3), which went 1-for-12 from the field in the first quarter and 3-for-22 in the first half before regrouping after halftime.
“This was humongous,” said Matula, who recently became the all-time wins leader in program history. “Chance Gray is arguably the best player in the league. They’re not going to keep missing shots. They’re capable of making baskets. Flores made some unbelievable plays. They only shot (13.6) percent in the first half. I told our girls at halftime that things are going to level themselves out a little bit. We had to put the ball in the basket when we had the opportunity.
“We started out real poor,” Firebirds coach Andy Fishman said. “It felt like we were rushing our offense. Their defense is always good. They’re always well-coached. Nothing they did surprised us. What surprised is we thought we’d be more confident offensively. Every time we’d try to make a run, we’d fail to execute a simple play, and they made the simple plays. Our shot selection wasn’t what it needed to be.
“It’s a learning process. I believe we can take a whole lot out of it.”
The Firebirds went into the game in third place in the GMC behind Mason and Princeton, which is Mason’s opponent on Monday at Princeton. Lakota West is scheduled to play a non-conference game at Springboro on Monday before returning to GMC action at Middletown on Wednesday.
Mason and Lakota West were 5-5 over their last 10 games in the series going into Saturday with six of them ending in a one-possession score, according to the GMC website.
The Comets never trailed in Saturday’s game that was somewhat of a reversal from the season’s first game. The Firebirds led, 16-9, after the first quarter of that game.
“The first game, they threw the first punch,” Mattes said. “This time, we threw the first punch.”
Matula believes his team’s approach to games helps handle big deficits and wide leads.
“They’re pretty even-keeled,” he said. “They don’t get super emotional about fouling somebody or a big finish. They’re very business-like. They have the ability to not let the game become bigger than it is.”
Lakota West shook off the first-half slump to go 14-of-26 from the field in the second half with Gray scoring 20 points after halftime. The Firebirds cut Mason’s lead to five points, 34-29, on junior guard Ngwa Beri’s layup with 2:17 left in the third quarter, but Mason put together a 6-0 run to regain control.
“This is what we shared with the girls,” Fishman said, “We want them to be annoyed. We want them to be determined, not disappointed. We feel like, if we play Mason a third time, we can beat them. If that’s the way the cards are drawn, that’s what we’ll do.”
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