Maine East’s Arabella Silva (13) tries to get around a pair of TF South defenders this season. (Dion Martorano/Journal photo)
Trying to get to the next level and remain competitive against other teams in the area — that’s what Maine East girls basketball is trying to shoot for these days.
The Blue Demons are still a young group of mainly juniors with a few others that are even younger. But the best part is that the team works hard and wants to get better each time out.
Maine East got off to a quick start and ran away with a 58-39 victory over visiting Deerfield Tuesday night (Jan. 13) in a Central Suburban League crossover in Park Ridge.
Arabella Silva scored a game-high 41 points and 11 rebounds and finished one point away from a career best 42 against Leyden a couple weeks ago.
“She’s really our go-to player and set the tone for us early,” Maine East coach Lance Newman said. “Whether it’s scoring or distributing the basketball. Once she gets the team going, we do play tough and play good basketball. Whenever you can score 41 points in 32 minutes it’s a huge night for anybody. When she gets hot, look out.”
Silva not only got hot with her shooting with 41 points, she also went perfect from the free-throw line going 9-for-9 and made 4 three-pointers.
“Lately, I haven’t felt that my shots have been that good,” Silva said. “It felt good here tonight. I just kept hitting my shots. I’m just grateful for my teammates getting me the ball to get those shots. It really comes down to where the open space is.”
Silva has discovered a lot about this team and how they work together in each game.
“I do like the team chemistry,” she said. “Everyone is nice to each other and kind. We just have a way to support each other if we’re on the bench or on the court.”
Silva also mentioned getting together off the court: “Off the court we have a team bonding at a Brunch Cafe down the street,” Silva said. “We try to get together after practice on Saturdays. It helps us bond and talk about things.”
The Blue Demons have other players that have supported Silva and have found ways to get into double-digits in points. Some of the starters seeing their shots fall each game include Heidi Cortez, Cumiyah Preister, Talia Rafidi and Anabel Velazquez.
“We’re filling out our roles and figuring things out,” Newman said. “We want to get the ball more into open shots. We know others can get the ball off and get the ball into the hoop. Multiple times this year they’ve scored in double digits. Actually, it’s still a work in progress. Most of our players came from JV last year. So, we’re trying to build as we go. We just figure it out as we play.
The Blue Demons (9-10) jumped out to an 18-5 lead over Deerfield after the opening quarter as Silva dropped 9 points.
Maine East held a lead of 25-12 at halftime and led 40-19 with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Deerfield (7-11) found some shots to fall late in the third quarter with an 8-0 run and trailed 40-27 after three quarters.
The Blue Demons held their own for the final quarter for the 19-point difference.
“We knew about (Silva),” Deerfield coach Nicole Keith said. “That’s the young part of this for us…She is really good and can play at all levels. She can go inside and power underneath and get her own rebound. She can also hit from way outside. She’s really a smart player. It’s hard to defend her.”
The Warriors were led by Charlee Baker and Maddie Swender each with a team-high 11 points.
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