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Deerfield dominant on both ends of the court against Maine East
Maine East's Jazlene Gonzalez (13) scores during the first quarter Friday at Deerfield. She is one of four juniors in the starting lineup who has helped reverse the Blue Demons' fortunes. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media
DEERFIELD — The Deerfield girls basketball team held Maine East to just three points in the final quarter of the teams’ first game of the season, and the Warriors’ defensive dominance carried over to Friday night.
Deerfield limited the Blue Demons to just 14 first-half points and forced 24 turnovers in the game en route to a 63-37 blowout victory.
The Warriors’ superb defense was supported by one of the team’s best offensive games of the season.
“To me, that was one of our strongest ones because we kept passing the ball around and we took good shots when we (were) open,” Deerfield freshman Margot Sylvan said. “Usually we hesitate. We just finished our shots today, and we were successful with transition offense.”
Deerfield (8-17, 5-4 CSL North) built a 30-14 lead at halftime thanks in large part to the team’s 3-point shooting. Freshman guard Haley Greer scored the game’s first points when she banked in a 3-point attempt, and the team’s offensive momentum never stalled in the game. Greer and Sylvan each hit two 3-point shots in the first half, and juniors Emma Bertrand and Kathryn Hoffman both drained one apiece.
While Maine East junior Jazlene Gonzalez came out on fire in the third quarter — the point guard scored eight consecutive points to cut Deerfield’s lead to 30-22. The Warriors, who lost the teams’ first meeting 46-41 on Dec. 14, answered with a 6-0 run and led by at least 11 points the rest of the way.
Greer and Sylvan combined to score 29 points. Their confidence and four consecutive days of practice helped dismantle the Blue Demons.
Greer and Slyvan “are very good shooters,” Deerfield coach Mike Muldrow said. “I think they know they’re good shooters. The work has not been on their confidence, it’s been more on when to take certain shots and how we want them to take those shots. That’s been the work in progress. This week was a really good week because we were able to practice four times this week — it was our only game this week — so we really prepared for Maine East’s zone — what shots we wanted out of it and the pace we wanted to play. They came out really confident.”
Pick up your local Pioneer Press newspaper Thursday to read more about the Deerfield and Maine East girls basketball teams.
Deerfield 63, Maine East 37
Maine East
Elanta Slowek 4, Janelle Alba Garner 0, Jazlene Gonzalez 15, Maria Protic 6, Shaylee Sloan 12, Mary Younan 0, Alyssa Matej 0, Maddie McTague 2, Amanda Roddy 0, Christina Printzis 0.
Deerfield
Margot Sylvan 13, Haley Greer 16, Kathryn Hoffman 11, Sarah Ginn 4, Jessica Bess 2, Elizabeth Pavalon 1, Emma Bertrand 5, Monica Fishbein 2, Kyla Druth 2, Maeve Derrig 2, Molly Collins 3, Kendall Levy 0, Morgan Cohen 0.
Maine East 9-5-19-4
Deerfield 16-14-18-15
3-point goals — Deerfield 8 (Molly Collins 1, Margot Sylvan 3, Haley Greer 2, Kathryn Hoffman 1, Emma Bertrand 1), Maine East 2 (Jazlene Gonzalez 2).
Fouled out — None. Team fouls — Maine East 12, Deerfield 12.
