All-Defense: Second Team

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2024-25&nbsp;<strong>regular season</strong>&nbsp;for girls' high school basketball is officially complete. Which means, now is the perfect time to look back and identify some of the premier defenders across the State, regardless of class. Here are the selections for the All-Defensive: Second Team!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:table --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><strong>Players</strong></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><strong>School</strong></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">[player_tooltip player_id='1068188' first='Kaiyah' last='Benally']</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Sandia</td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">[player_tooltip player_id='839428' first='Trinity' last='Calabaza']</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Bernalillo</td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">[player_tooltip player_id='1221578' first='Courtney' last='Craig']</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Crownpoint</td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">[player_tooltip player_id='648224' first='Ana' last='Cuevas']</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Estancia</td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">[player_tooltip player_id='648203' first='Rebecca' last='Neal']</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Highland</td></tr></tbody></table><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Players listed in alphabetical order by last name</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:table --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1068188"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67c5e9c18001b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Benally, the No.1 ranked player in the 2028 class, is a 5'6" point-guard with a terrific motor and great instincts. Furthermore, Benally is an outstanding on-ball defender that takes joy in suffocating opposing players the full-length of the court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 26 games played, Benally averaged 3.1 steals per game, a new career-high. On top of that, Benally also logged 11 games with four or more steals for Sandia.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["839428"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67c5e9c1800a4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Calabaza did a fabulous job protecting the paint during the regular season as she was one of two players to reach triple-digit blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 28 games played for Bernalillo, Calabaza finished with 124 blocks, a new career-high. Such numbers, resulted in Calabaza averaging 4.4 blocks per game. What's more, Calabaza recorded 16 games with four or more blocks for the Spartans.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='1221578' first='Courtney' last='Craig']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"12122","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Crownpoint","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67c5e9c18015e"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">During the regular season, Craig was one of five players to record 50 or more blocks and 50 or more steals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 19 games played for Crownpoint, the junior power-forward totaled 53 blocks and 64 steals for the Eagles. Overall, Craig averaged 3.4 steals and 2.8 blocks per game,</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["648224"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67c5e9c1801ab"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Cuevas, the Bears steals leader, not only averaged 6.4 steals per game, but accounted for one third of Estancia's steals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Moreover, Cuevas was one of three players to total 160+ steals, finishing with the third most altogether (161).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If that was not impressive enough, Cuevas had five games with double-digit steals!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["648203"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67c5e9c1801f1"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All-season long, Neal anchored the Hornets defense with her ability to guard multiple positions thanks to her size and strength. Listed as a point-forward, Neal finished the regular season being one of five players to average at least 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">As a junior, Neal appeared in 26 games, posting 2.1 steals and 2.0 blocks per game for the Hornets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>*Statistics via MaxPreps*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->