Some may say that it is still early in girls basketball season. And, on the other hand, it feels like things have blown by in terms of time already. We used to celebrate the unofficial midway point somewhere around the SAC Holiday Tournament at the end of December, but without that January 1 is just kind of that point.
Wherever you feel like we are in the midst of the 2025-26 girls basketball season, the defensive efforts have been something that hasn’t garnered enough attention, but has still been superb.
So today, Bounce wanted to take a look at and discuss some of the top defenders in Northeast Indiana, so far anyway. No, this is not every great defender in the area this season so far, just a few names that have really caught Bounce’s eye.
KHALA WILLIAMS-THOMAS, NORTHROP
Williams-Thomas will have to be considered one of the best defenders in the SAC ever when her senior season ends. She leads the SAC is steals per game so far this season with four, as teammates Swynn Jackson and Brilee Day are also up there in the conference. Williams-Thomas has a season best nine steals in a win over Concordia Lutheran. But its not just impressive that Williams-Thomas leads the SAC this season, her body of work in her career has been astounding defensively. She got involved in some big games as a freshman including a breakout against Snider, before averaging 3.4 steals as a sophomore and 3.5 as a junior. So far in Williams-Thomas’ career – to date – she has 171 steals which puts her at 2.8 steals per game for her career.
KAYLEE DAVIS, SOUTHERN WELLS
Wells leads the ACAC at a staggering 6.2 steals per contest as the Raiders have rolled to a 5-1 start in their first six games. Three times already she is over that average with a total of eight steals on those three different occasions already this season. Cowan, Union City and Eastbrook have all been the victims of those big defensive games with Davis flirting with a quadruple double against Eastbrook. Her final line there: 17 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds and 8 steals. Currently, her 6.2 steals per game has her tied for 8th in the state and tops among area players.
BLUFFTON QUAD
If there is a team who is on a tear defensively in the area, it may be Bluffton. The Tigers are giving up 38.6 points per game, which isn’t even in the top 50 defensive averages in the state. But behind that, three players rank in the top 5 of ACAC steals leaders and one player for the Tigers is a blocking machine. Konley Ault (3.4 spg), Khloe Dick (3.2) and Eden Nash (2.8) all are near the top of their conference’s theft list; Ault twice has hit six steals in a game with Dick doing so once. Then there is Sophie Eisenhut, who averages four blocks per contest and 32 total on the season thus far, ranking her 2nd in the state in blocks per game.
JAYONNA FLOTOW, NORTH SIDE
Speaking of big blockers, Flotow has given North Side a bit of a spark as team performance hasn’t been strong. She was one of the better defenders in the area last season and currently leads the state (of teams who report to Max Preps; as they all should) with 8.8 blocks per game for the Legends. But she blocked 14 shots against Culver Academies and had 10 blocks as part of a triple double in a loss to Garrett.
LEO DUO
Another of the area’s big shot blocking threats, Leah Shappell leads the NE8 and is sixth in the state by averaging 3.6 blocks per game. Shappell has four games of three blocks, has blocked five shots twice and has a season high of seven blocked shots in a win over South Adams. But Shappell is far from a one tool player when it comes to defense; her 3.6 steals per game rank third in the NE8 with a total of 9 against Churubusco and a total of five or more on three other occasions. She’d have a crack at the top of the NE8 steals list if it wasn’t for teammate Mackenzie Collins, who is averaging 4.1 swipes per contest. Collins has been steady with her steal count most games but did have nine takeaways against South Adams.
DULCE CANEDO, LAKELAND
The NECC’s leader in steals per game at 4.8, Canedo opened up 2025-26 hot. She stole the ball nine times in a season opening win over Goshen, then proceeded five thefts in each of her next three contests. Last season, Canedo broke out because of her defensive efforts and this season, that defense is a more critical point for the Lakers and their success.
EMMA COFFMAN, GARRETT
Coffman leads the NECC with 32 total steals so far this season, balancing her tremendous offensive efforts with a defense that may get overlooked because of how well she has done offensively. As one of the top scorers in the conference that broke the program’s sophomore scoring record twice in a week, Coffman sure doesn’t relax on the other end. She averages a NECC second best 4.6 steals per game, taking the ball away nine times against Heritage and eight times against New Haven in back to back games.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
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