Class 4A steals leaders to watch out for in 2021

With the season starting in the beginning of January, a lot of players are excited to get back on the floor with their respective teams. Playing a game in which offense is usually the main attraction and defense gets undervalued, defense is the skill set that can win a lot of games for a team, and earn a lot of playing time for a player. Let's take a look at some players who can lock down at the defensive end, as well as turn their defense into offense. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="117716" first="Mia" last="Trevino"] (Denver West)</strong> Trevino (2022) is a player who has been lifting her team in many ways when she is on the floor. She can turn her defense into offense, averaging 5.8 steals per game last year. Trevino was the second leading scorer on her team as a sophomore, averaging 14.1 points per game while shooting 112 for 351 (32 percent) from the floor. She was able to come up with a season high in steals this past year with 15 against Jefferson and also scored 25 points in that contest. Trevino has scored a total of 598 points in her career and with two more years to play on the varsity level, she is on her way to joining the 1,000-point club. <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-195663" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/08/Jasmine-Arreola-Denver-West-300x222.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="222" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="117687" first="Jasmine" last="Arreola"] (Denver West)</strong> Another one of Denver West's guards who can get her hands on a lot of steals, Arreola (2022) is leading the team in points per game and is the team's most efficient offensive player. She averaged 18.3 points per game on 151-for-331 (46 percent) shooting from the field. Standing at 5-foot-9, Arreola is a versatile player, averaging a double-double this past year for West. She averaged 12.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 5.2 steals per game, and came up with a season high in steals with 10 earlier in the season against Jefferson. Arreola has been improving each year, and look to continue adding value to her team <img class="size-medium wp-image-195664 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/08/Malia-Heien-Northfield-300x248.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="248" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="117686" first="Malia" last="Heien"] (Northfield)</strong> Standing at 6 feet tall, Heien (2022) shows the ability to anticipate passes and gets her hands in the passing lanes consistently. She has good foot speed that allows her to keep her defensive assignment in front of her and shows signs of being able to dribble in traffic, putting pressure on the defense in transition. She is a versatile player who can score, rebound and turn defense into offense. Heien averaged 12.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 5.1 steals per game. Heien came up with a season high in steals with 11 in the beginning of the season. <strong>Lesline Kaho (Regis Groff)</strong> Kaho (2022) is a player who does not score a lot but she does the little things that will help her team. She is the second leader in points per game on her team and leads the team in steals. Kaho averaged nine points, 5.4 rebounds and five steals per game. She scored a season high in points last season with 25 against KIPP Denver Collegiate, shooting 12 for 34 (35 percent) from the floor in the game. Kaho also hit her season high in steals with 10 in three different contests. She has made huge strides her game from her freshman to sophomore years and with two more seasons to come, Kaho is a player who can add a lot of value to Regis Groff in the future. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="116765" first="Kaydee" last="Sims"] (Weld Central)</strong> Sims (2021) can get it going when she has the ball in her hands. She can score the ball in a variety of ways and can finish through contact. With a great feel for the game on both ends of the floor and has great court awareness, Sims does well running through the pass on defense and getting her hands on the ball for easy layups. She is the second leading scorer in Class 4A. She averaged 20.4 points per game on 169-for-412 (41 percent) shooting from the field last season and also averaged 8.4 rebounds and 4.3 steals per game. Sims came up with a season high in steals with eight twice last season, and now has 204 in her high school career to date.