Fencor 1989s

Monday, August 5, 2002 Matera keeping family tradition By KEVIN CALLAHAN Courier-Post Staff Christine Matera never really had a chance. There was no way the young girl from Moorestown wasn't going to fall head over high-tops for basketball. After all, her grandfather Leon Matera, who passed away a few years ago, was a legendary basketball player at Camden High School and is a member of the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame. And her father, Mark, starred in basketball and football at Pennsauken in the early 1970s before sticking to playing quarterback at Widener. Plus, her older brother Anthony was the starting point guard for the Camden Catholic freshman team last season. He scored more points for the Irish freshmen than anyone has in over 20 years. Athletic talent also blessed her bloodline. Her late uncle Brian was one of the top linebackers to ever play for Pennsauken. He played in the mid-70s before starting for two years at Maryland. Even though she comes from such a notable South Jersey sports family, Christine has already carved out a name for herself. Earlier this month, the 5-foot-4 guard played a major role for the Fencor AAU basketball team that won the national 12-and-under championship in Amarillo, Texas. She was the only girl from New Jersey on the Holland, Pa.-based team that became the sixth in the last 27 years from the Mid-Atlantic Region (from Harrisburg, Pa., east and Trenton south into Delaware) to win a national title in AAU, which includes age groups from 10 to 18. It was Matera's first season with Fencor after playing for the Bucks County Renegades the previous two seasons. ``She really is one of the biggest difference-makers for us and why we finished fifth last year and first this year," said Fencor coach Keith Webster, who is also the head girls' basketball coach at Germantown Friends (Pa.) High School. ``She is probably the best pure shooter on the team." Besides her shot, Webster was impressed with Matera's work ethic. ``She comes early to practice and leaves late,'' Webster said. ``She is what every coach wants in a player." Matera scored 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and dealt five assists without a turnover in the 71-64 championship game win over Texas Express. Fencor finished 11-1 in the eight-day tournament. The following day, her picture was on the front page of the Amarillo Globe-News going for a loose ball - another example of her all-out hustle on the court. For the 12-game national tournament, Matera was fourth on the team in scoring and first in assists. She scored a personal tournament-high 15 points in the second game of the 68-team event. ``I always thought we could win it,'' she said of her team, which finished the season 48-6 and lost only once in its age group. ``However, when it was over, it didn't feel like it was real." Matera is entering eighth grade at Our Lady of Good Counsel grammar school in Moorestown. Her junior high team has four starters back from her CYO team, which won the championship last season. Last year, she was named MVP of the 15-team Ralph Shaw Tournament. Matera, who is considering attending Camden Catholic or Bishop Eustace, started playing basketball against her brother Anthony at such a young age that she can't remember how old she was. ``I always thought it was fun, and I used to go to watch him play with the Marlton travel team that my dad coached," she said. Sometimes her dad even let her practice with the older boys. ``I would get beat up a lot, and they would block my shots," she said. Now, Matera not only gets her shots off, but she makes them thanks to countless hours of shooting in the driveway. She practices shooting rapidly from a crate of a dozen basketballs stored in the garage and a few more lying around that her mother, Donna, and younger brother, Brian, must dodge to get into the house. ``She is almost automatic from the 3-point line," Webster said. ``Whenever our opponents tried to pack the lane to shut down our post players, we could always count on Christine to make them pay by banging a big two-or 3- pointer from the outside." Christine and her father credited a dramatic improvement in her game to working out this past season with Bill Burr, a former All-South Jersey selection from Camden Catholic. And, she has undoubtedly been blessed by her talented family. ``My dad always tells me that my granddad would be proud of me," she said. ------------------------------------------ Reach Kevin Callahan at (856) 486-2424 or kcallahan@courierpostonline.com