Aria Mazza, ‘dragged’ to NBA games for brother’s violin performances, is proving instrumental for Benet

Benet junior Aria Mazza has been playing basketball for about eight years.

It all started because of her older brother’s violin.

Giovanni Mazza, 18, is an elite violinist who has played during dozens of NBA games since he was discovered during a Chicago Bulls youth talent search in 2015.

“I’ve got to go to all these games, and that’s kind of how I got into basketball,” Aria Mazza said. “Just being dragged to every NBA game, I started watching the games, and I started to love the game.”

Mazza is beginning to make music of a different kind in her first season with the Redwings (4-2) after transferring.

The 5-foot-7 guard started at Conant last season but is usually the first or second player off the bench for Benet.

“During middle school, I wanted to come here, but COVID kind of changed the plans up,” Mazza said. “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 seem excited she’s 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 said. “She’s definitely bringing a huge talent to the team that we needed, and she’s contributing every game.

“So even though she’s coming off the bench as the sixth man, she’s still a super crucial piece of our team.”

Mazza showed why on Thursday, coming off the bench to contribute four points, a team-high nine rebounds, five steals and two assists to help Benet beat previously unbeaten Lyons 54-45 in Lisle. She did that despite playing less than half the game.

“I kind of think of her as an offensive player, but her defense was great today,” Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. “She really gave us some juice today off the bench. She got us going in good ways.”

Mazza checked in midway through the first quarter with the Lions (5-1) leading 9-6. She assisted on senior forward Shannon Earley’s driving layup and then sank two midrange jumpers, both 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 ahead to stay. Despite playing against a bigger lineup that included 6-2 post players Nora Ezike and Emma O’Brien, the Redwings outrebounded the Lions 20-7 on the offensive end, with Mazza accounting for six of them.

“I think I played pretty solid,” Mazza said. “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 a lot of size, so Kilbride is employing more full-court pressure. Mazza was particularly effective against the Lions while playing at the top of the press alongside Rifenburg, who scored a game-high 11 points and also had five steals.

“Our pressure was good, and when she got in, it was even better,” Kilbride said of Mazza. “So that was very nice to see.”

Kilbride likes much of what he’s seeing from Mazza.

“The nice thing is she can kind of do everything,” Kilbride said. “She can handle it. She’s got a good midrange. She’s a very good 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 happy to be surrounded by talented teammates so she won’t be relied on to be a top 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 said.

But don’t think Mazza is incapable of filling up the basket.

“She definitely can make big shots whenever we need her to,” Rifenburg said. “And we can always count on her to score for us.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.

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