Benet junior Aria Mazza has been enjoying basketball for about eight years.
It all began due to her older brother’s violin.
Giovanni Mazza, 18, is an elite violinist who has performed throughout dozens of NBA video games since he was found throughout a Chicago Bulls youth expertise search in 2015.
“I’ve got to go to all these games, and that’s kind of how I got into basketball,” Aria Mazza stated. “Just being dragged to every NBA game, I started watching the games, and I started to love the game.”
Mazza is starting to make music of a special type in her first season with the Redwings (4-2) after transferring.
The 5-foot-7 guard began at Conant final season however is normally the primary or second participant off the bench for Benet.
“During middle school, I wanted to come here, but COVID kind of changed the plans up,” Mazza stated. “Now that I’m here, it’s a little more competitive in practices, but I think it’s really helped me, and I’m excited to be here.”
The Redwings appear excited she’s right here.
“I think that the second she came here, everybody did a good job of welcoming her, and she fit in right away,” Benet sophomore guard Bridget Rifenburg stated. “She’s undoubtedly bringing an enormous expertise to the crew that we would have liked, and she or he’s contributing each recreation.
“So even though she’s coming off the bench as the sixth man, she’s still a super crucial piece of our team.”
Mazza confirmed why on Thursday, coming off the bench to contribute 4 factors, a team-high 9 rebounds, 5 steals and two assists to assist Benet beat beforehand unbeaten Lyons 54-45 in Lisle. She did that regardless of enjoying lower than half the sport.
“I kind of think of her as an offensive player, but her defense was great today,” Benet coach Joe Kilbride stated. “She really gave us some juice today off the bench. She got us going in good ways.”
Mazza checked in halfway by the primary quarter with the Lions (5-1) main 9-6. She assisted on senior ahead Shannon Earley’s driving layup after which sank two midrange jumpers, each of which gave the Redwings the lead.
Mazza later had an offensive rebound that led to junior guard Lindsay Harzich’s 3-pointer, which broke a 14-14 tie and put the Redwings forward to remain. Despite enjoying towards an even bigger lineup that included 6-2 put up gamers Nora Ezike and Emma O’Brien, the Redwings outrebounded the Lions 20-7 on the offensive finish, with Mazza accounting for six of them.
“I think I played pretty solid,” Mazza stated. “I like the fact that when you’re coming off the bench, you can see what’s going on with the other team and what we need to adjust to. That’s what has helped me come off the bench.”
The Redwings don’t have plenty of dimension, so Kilbride is using extra full-court stress. Mazza was significantly efficient towards the Lions whereas enjoying on the high of the press alongside Rifenburg, who scored a game-high 11 factors and in addition had 5 steals.
“Our pressure was good, and when she got in, it was even better,” Kilbride stated of Mazza. “So that was very nice to see.”
Kilbride likes a lot of what he’s seeing from Mazza.
“The nice thing is she can kind of do everything,” Kilbride stated. “She can deal with it. She’s received a great midrange. She’s an excellent decision-maker.
“She’s still trying to learn me and learn kind of what we’re doing. But she’s been great, so we’re very happy with her.”
Mazza is blissful to be surrounded by proficient teammates so she gained’t be relied on to be a high scorer.
“Now that I have a team of shooters all around me, I think I can contribute a lot with assists and just moving the ball and being a distributor,” she stated.
But don’t suppose Mazza is incapable of filling up the basket.
“She definitely can make big shots whenever we need her to,” Rifenburg stated. “And we can always count on her to score for us.”
Matt Le Cren is a contract reporter for the Naperville Sun.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com