By: Nate Calvin
For Delta senior guard Maddie Mattimore reaching 1,000 points in her career has always been a goal and that goal became a reality in front of her home fans on January 20th. Needing only three points to hit the mark, Mattimore took care of business early when she scored and was fouled, then stepped to the line to knock down the free throw to put her in the Delta girl’s basketball record books as only the fifth player to reach that milestone.
Mattimore said she felt a little more pressure than usually going into the game because she knew how close she was. “I just wanted to score the three points and get them out of the way. I was really excited to score it at home in front of the home crowd”, Mattimore commented.
For Maddie, it may just mean a little bit more as her sister Morgan, who currently plays for Ursuline College, accomplished the same feat two years ago. “This is a huge milestone for me” said Mattimore when asked about her achievement. “It has always been one of my goals, especially ever since my sister had reached her 1,000”, she added.
Sports is a way of life for the Mattimore family, but it goes beyond just basketball. All of Maddie’s siblings did play basketball but her brother Dom also played baseball and football, Morgan played soccer and ran track, younger sister Mariah plays soccer along with basketball, and her youngest brother Donovan plays football and baseball in addition to basketball and Maddie herself also played soccer for four years.
Maddie said she was coached by her mom most of the time and credits her with helping develop mental toughness through the years. “My parents have always pushed my sisters and I to never settle because you can always improve your game”, commented Mattimore.
She also said that her family has made a lot of sacrifices that has allowed her to play AAU basketball during the summer. She spent a majority of her summers with the Toledo Elite AAU team, starting with them at the age of 9 years old and recently completing her time with the organization this past summer.
Needless to say, for Mattimore to become the player she is today has taken countless hours in the gym and the weight room by her own admission and that is a fact that her coach can verify. “She’s a gym rat” said Head Coach Ryan Ripke, who is in his 8th year as the varsity girls coach after spending six years as a coach in the Delta boys program at various levels.
“She gets in the gym any chance she gets and that has helped her get progressively better in all aspects of her game. This summer she made a commitment to get into the weight room and really got a lot stronger”, he added. Ripke also talked about Maddie in respects to how her teammates respond to her saying that she’s been more of a leader by example than a vocal leader but the other girls definitely her lead out on the floor because they know if they are open that Mattimore will find them.
For Ripke seeing one of his players accomplish a career milestone has special meaning. “I love it, usually it’s a goal that a girl has had since she started her high school career. I love seeing an athlete achieve a goal that she has worked so hard for the way the rest of the team rallies around her to celebrate her achievement. It’s tough to score 1,000 points in a career if you don’t have great teammates around you”, he said.
With the individual accomplishment out of the way, Maddie and her Delta teammates focus on the remainder of the season. When asked about goals for the rest of the season, Maddie said the team goals are to win the NWOAL championship and also to win a district title when March rolls around. Delta has important games remaining on their schedule against Archbold and Bryan that will help determine who takes home the league championship.
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com