By Clayton Sauertieg
New Castle News

Carmie Matarazzo has passed each early-season test she’s faced with flying colors.
The junior for the Neshannock High girls basketball team has moved from her previous spot at forward to guard, and the change has proven extremely effective both individually and for her team.
Matarazzo is averaging a team-leading 14.3 points per game this season for the Lady Lancers (4-0 WPIAL Section 3-2A, 12-1 overall). She averaged 14 points and nine rebounds per outing in two Neshannock victories last week against Hickory and Brentwood.
Her performance in those games earned her Lawrence County high school athlete of the week honors as sponsored by Washington Center Physical Therapy and voted upon by the New Castle News sports staff.
“She’s always played in the post, and this year we moved her out to guard,” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said. “It’s been an adjustment for her, but she rebounds really well from that spot and she does a lot of everything for us. She does all the little things.”
Grybowski said that while Matarazzo is still adjusting to the position switch, she is getting there quickly.
“It’s a role that she’s getting more used to,” she said. “She passes the ball very well into the post and attacks the rim very well. She’s very versatile, probably the most versatile on the team. She can shoot the pull-up jumper, which is a lost art, and can finish at the rim. So she has all of the tools, it’s just a matter of being more comfortable and doing it more often.”
Matarazzo’s biggest contributions down the line could come on the defensive end, where her length and ability to switch into the post gives the Lady Lancers flexibility. But Matarazzo said that defense is probably her biggest weakness right now.
“The position switch didn’t really matter to me,” she said. “But I think I still have to get better on defense. I’m trying to get faster and quicker to defend some of the quicker guards. That’s been the hardest thing for me, defending guards because they’re just quicker than what I’m used to defending.”
Despite the early struggles defensively, Matarazzo has been one of Grybowski’s greatest weapons on the offensive end. Matarazzo has eclipsed the 20-point mark three times and has scored in double figures eight times in 11 games for the Lady Lancers thus far.
“I think I’ve got better at some things,” Matarazzo says of her game. “I’ve gotten better at driving the ball to the hoop, my jump shot is improving and I’m working on my ballhandling. But the switch has definitely made me a better player.”
(csauertieg
@ncnewsonline.com)