High school basketball: Where do Nebraska's Top 10 steals leaders rank nationally?

It's pretty automatic during the high school boys basketball season. Basketball fans from all corners of the state login to their computer hoping a player at the school they are loyal to claims a lofty spot in one of MaxPreps statistical categories.

But what about the national standings? Oh, what a coup it would be to find a player at your alma mater sitting alongside national leaders like Vusa Tshuma of Chisholm Trail Academy (Keene, TX), Kendrick (ID)'s Jagger Hewett or Bryce Drayer of Union City (PA). Heck, landing a spot in the Top 100 would be pretty cool, too.

Well, this week we did the work for you. Scouring through the MaxPreps statistical database, we unearthed the current national landing spot for each of the Cornhusker State's Top 10 boys basketball thiefs.

The Cornhusker State's top player when it comes to steals, Trenton Marquez of Bayard, is averaging a whopping 4.9 basketball thefts and finds his name listed in the No. 65 spot nationally. Sitting a little more than three steals a game behind national leader Tshuma, Ryan Hergenreder's 5-foot-9 guard ranks 31st among all seniors nationally.



Garden County senior Johnny Vargas stole his way onto the No. 84 rung nationally after swiping 4.7 enemy balls an outing to this point in the season. Luke Kasten of Potter-Dix sits 129th with 4.4 steals a night. Madison's Diego Gastelum and Josh Rojas of Lutheran-Northeast round out the Top 5 with theft averages of 4.1 and 3.9 respectively.

Classes A, C2, D1 and D2 are all represented in this week's Top 10. But that does not mean that Nebraska's top basketball thiefs in Classes B and C1 aren't swiping balls at a high level.

Uriah Ybarra of Gering leads Nebraska's second largest classification with an average of 2.9 steals a game. Winnebago's Dyami Berridge, meanwhile, leads Class C1 after swiping 3.1 enemy balls a contest so far this season.

We pulled our steal statistics for this week's Top 10 from Thursday's database. As you browse through the Top 10, listed on the top line is the athlete's school and steal average while the player's ranking nationally, national ranking for his grade and his standing in the Cornhusker State can be found on the second line. The third line is reserved for each member of the Top 10's stat line.

Where Nebraska's Top 10 basketball steals leaders rank nationally

1. Trenton Marquez, Bayard – 4.9 Steals
Nationally – 65th | Senior Class Nationally – 31st | Nebraska – 1st
18.5 Points | 3.6 Assists | 6.0 Rebounds | 4.9 Steals | 0.1 Blocked Shots



2. Johnny Vargas, Garden County (Oshkosh) – 4.7 Steals
Nationally – 84th | Senior Class Nationally – 42nd | Nebraska – 2nd
19.1 Points | 3.4 Assists | 8.8 Rebounds | 4.6 Steals | 0.8 Blocked Shots

3. Luke Kasten, Potter-Dix (Potter) – 4.4 Steals
Nationally – 129th | Senior Class Nationally – 64th | Nebraska – 3rd
20.4 Points | 4.3 Assists | 10.8 Rebounds | 4.4 Steals | 1.1 Blocked Shots

4. Diego Gastelum, Madison – 4.1 Steals
Nationally – 225th | Senior Class Nationally – 104th | Nebraska – 4th
17.6 Points | 2.9 Assists | 3.0 Rebounds | 4.1 Steals | 0.2 Blocked Shots

5. Josh Rojas, Lutheran-Northeast (Norfolk) – 3.9 Steals
Nationally – 265th | Junior Class Nationally – 83rd | Nebraska – 5th
15.5 Points | 0.2 Assists | 1.8 Rebounds | 3.9 Steals | 0.1 Blocked Shots

6. Riley Bombeck, Shelton – 3.9 Steals
Nationally – 269th | Junior Class Nationally – 84th | Nebraska – 6th
20.8 Points | 4.8 Assists | 9.1 Rebounds | 3.7 Steals | 1.4 Blocked Shots

7. Justin Ernest, Leyton (Dalton) – 3.9 Steals
Nationally – 290th | Senior Class Nationally – 143rd | Nebraska – 7th
14.8 Points | 4.2 Assists | 4.6 Rebounds | 3.9 Steals | 0.1 Blocked Shots

8. Ke'Von Newsome, Benson (Omaha) – 3.9 Steals
Nationally – 296th | Junior Class Nationally – 96th | Nebraska – 8th
12.7 Points | 2.5 Assists | 7.3 Rebounds | 3.9 Steals | 0.9 Blocked Shots



9. Trystan Muhr, Bayard – 3.8 Steals
Nationally – 326th | Senior Class Nationally – 161st | Nebraska – 9th
7.3 Points | 1.9 Assists | 3.7 Rebounds | 3.8 Steals | 0.3 Blocked Shots

10. Hayden Kramer, Maywood/Hayes Center (Maywood) – 3.8 Steals
Nationally – 335th | Senior Class Nationally – 165th | Nebraska – 10th
15.0 Points | 2.7 Assists | 7.1 Rebounds | 3.8 Steals | 0.7 Blocked Shots

11. Anthony Reader, St. Edward – 3.8 Steals
Nationally – 349th | Sophomore Class Nationally – 47th | Nebraska – 11th
11.8 Points | 1.4 Assists | 2.6 Rebounds | 3.8 Steals | 0.0 Blocked Shots