By Matt Browning

Ericka Mattingly, a former basketball standout at South, was chosen as the Butler Community College athlete of the month.

Mattingly played for former Titans coach, Mike Helmer, with the Grizzlies in 2017-2018 before moving on to UMKC.

“It was a blast right from the start,” Mattingly said. “It was fun to start getting after it and get to know all of the girls I would be playing with that year. We all bonded often, taking trips to El Dorado Lake and doing other fun things together to get to know each other.”

Butler and Mattlingly enjoyed a great amount of success and even though the Grizzlies didn’t win the regional tournament in 2017-2018, Mattingly was proud of the effort of her team that went 21-10 overall and 17-9 in the conference.

“It was a reflection of how hard our whole entire team worked and what Helmer instilled in us,” Mattingly said. “It was a blast playing at Butler. It was fun playing with a group of girls that was eager to work hard everyday. That was always what Helmer told us, was to be a dog. It is okay if you make mistakes. Everyone is human, as long as you take accountability for the mistakes you make, change it, and work hard while you are doing it then that was all that mattered.”