“The best moment of my season,” said Cabrillo High School point guard Sophia Stevens, “was definitely when we won league, and we ran out into the court crying. I was on varsity my freshman year, and we did not win one game. Going from that to league champs was definitely a big moment in my life.”
That moment came on Feb. 12, when Cabrillo cruised past Santa Maria 58-43 to tie with Lompoc for first in the league. The senior point guard put up eight points and had three steals, three assists, and three rebounds. “That doesn’t sound like a lot, but she’s been consistent,” girls’ basketball coach Jared McCune said. “[She] sets the tone on the defensive end. She usually guards their best player and can really contain them for us.”
“Personally,” said assistant coach Dan Duffy, “I think that she’s one of the top two defensive players in the league.”
“At the girls’ level,” Duffy explained, “defensive skills really lead to easy offense. She sits at the top, and once she gets the hand on the ball or a steal, we can get out and go. She’s a great ball handler—she’s probably the best ball handler on the team.”
Stevens plays basketball as a facilitator—snapping up lazy passes and getting the ball into the hands of Cabrillo’s offense. “Most of the time,” McCune said, “she’s putting us in the right position to get it to our main scorers.”
Part of her strength is her speed. “She likes to push the ball,” McCune explained. “She’s very fast, she’s actually the fastest girl on our team. She’s more looking to pass first rather than to shoot.”
That speed is backed up by stamina. Stevens is a long-distance runner for Cabrillo when she’s not playing basketball, and that can kick in when other players are running out of steam.
“She can go hard for extended periods of time at that level,” Duffy said.
Stevens’ speed and stamina is cemented by her experience. She started playing for Cabrillo’s varsity squad as a freshman, and her game has matured since then. “She’s just progressed defensively,” Duffy said. “She’s gotten a good feel for the game, instincts, and that comes from time on the court.”
Stevens is one of those players who will leave an empty space on the court when she leaves.
“She’s fun to be around,” Duffy said. “She’s well-liked by everybody, good sense of humor. She’s a key cog, and we’re going to miss her.
This article appears in Feb 19-26, 2015.
