An early look at Colorado high school girls basketball Player of the Year candidates

That being said, there are several girls basketball players in each classification who are starting to establish themselves as Player of the Year candidates. While the full list is certainly much bigger than what is seen here, these are the players that have caught our eyes at the midpoint of the regular season with their standout play on the court.
Class 5A
Raegan Beers, Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch): Beers missed all of last season with an injury and watched as the Eagles claimed the 5A state championship. This season she looks determined to help them repeat that title run. She is averaging 19.8 points and 13. 6 rebounds, and her best performance came against another regular 5A semifinal team in Highlands Ranch where she scored 29 points and hauled in 18 rebounds to lead the Eagles to a 68-53 win.

Lauren Betts, Grandview (Aurora): Betts is the No. 1 recruit in the country and headed to Stanford to join other recent Colorado standouts Fran Belibi, Jana Van Gytenbeek and Ashten Prechtel. In her first six games this season she's averaged 12.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and four blocks. She scored 10 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in a highly anticipated showdown with Valor Christian on Jan. 8. As she settles into Centennial League play it wouldn't be a surprise to see her season averages gradually inflate. And as they inflate, Grandview should start picking up more wins.

Breanna Jefferson, Vista PEAK Prep (Aurora): Jefferson is the epitome of the size of the fight in the player mattering more than the size of the player in the fight. Standing at just 5-foot-3, she has become an all-around solid player for the Bison. She scores 21.4 points and grabs 5.5 rebounds per game. She also grabs four steals per game on the defensive end. Her lone double-double of the season came in a win against Lakewood where she scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. In her first game out of the winter break, she scored 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds in a loss to Regis Jesuit (Aurora).

Class 4A
Gracie Gallegos, Mullen (Denver): It's hard to ignore Gallegos' production considering the slate of teams she has played against this season. She's averaging 17.7 points and 4.2 rebounds against mostly 5A teams. And it's not just spotty production where she'll put up great numbers against some teams and lower numbers against good ones. In wins over Regis Jesuit and Gradnview, she averaged 22 points and five rebounds. She shoots 48 percent from 3-point range and is one of the top players in the state, regardless of her classification.

Mason Rowland, Durango: When Rowland finds her shooting stroke, there might not be anyone better at scoring. In a win over Ignacio on Dec. 4, she went 11 of 12 from the floor to shoot 92 percent. The lone miss was her lone 3-point attempt, but that shouldn't reflect her long-range ability. She's shooting 42 percent from 3-point range this season. She's averaging 21.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 steals for the Demons.

Taylin Serlen, Standley Lake (Westminster): Serlen is leading Class 4A with 21.8 points per game, and her 13 rebounds per game are 12th in the state, regardless of classification. Competing in a tough Jeffco League doesn't make things easy for her, but even against a ttop eam like Evergreen she was able to score 15 points and pull down 15 rebounds. The Gators lost that game, but her high level of play will give them a chance to win every time they take the court.

Class 3A
Jasmine Arreola, Denver West: Only once has Arreola been held to less than 10 points in a game. Not only that, when a team misses a shot, it's almost a foregone conclusion that she will be there to get the rebound. She averages a double- double at 17.6 points and a staggering 17.1 rebounds per game. She's also a defensive asset as she swipes 3.4 steals per game. The Cowboys won five of their first six games of the season and Arreola is a big reason why.

Aryanna Perez, The Academy (Westminster): Perez has evolved into one of the top all-around players in 3A. She leads the classification in scoring (21.1 points) and puts up solid rebounding (4.7) and steals (6.4) numbers as well. She scored 18 points and grabbed nine steals in a loss to University (Greeley) earlier this season, showing that she can battle against quality competition.

Cora Schissler, Platte Valley (Kersey): There hasn't been a single team this season that has been able to limit Schissler's scoring ability. She averages 18.4 points for the defending 3A championships, and no opponent has been able to hold her to less than 17 points. She had back-to-back 30-point performances against Weld Central (Keenesburg) and The Vanguard School (Colorado Springs) prior to the winter break. Knowing that she's good for at least 18 points per game puts a ton of stress on opposing defenses.

Class 2A
Annabelle Biggar, Dawson School (Lafayette): Biggar is nearly averaging a double-double at 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Perhaps her biggest asset to the Mustangs is her tenacity on the defensive end, as she's averaging 6.5 steals. She doesn't shy away from competing in the crucial moments like the 54-52 loss against SkyView Academy (Highlands Ranch). She kept the Mustnags in the game with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Despite the loss, she showed she can battle in those kinds of games, which will be crucial in the coming weeks.

Addi Kessinger, Akron: Some of Kessinger's games this season are eye-popping when it comes to stats. She has gone for at least 16 points and 16 rebounds four times and has even done it against some top teams. Her 23-point, 17-rebound game in a loss to Wray on Jan. 7 is an indicator that she is certainly one of the top players in the classification. She will happily accept any challenge that's ahead of her if it means helping Akron make a playoff run in March.

Kristin Vieselmeyer, Holyoke: The Dragons senior has developed into quite the star. She has become a leader on the court and has backed up her leadership with her play. She is averaging a double-double with 20.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Those numbers got Holyoke off to a 7-1 to the season. She's shooting 59 percent from the floor and is mixing in a pair of assists and steals in each game. Her best game of the season so far came in a Jan. 8 win over Yuma where she scored 28 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and had two steals and two blocks.

Class 1A
Kenlee Durrill, Flatirons Academy (Westminster): After helping the Bison claim the 1A state title last year, Durrill is having a solid junior season. She's averaging 19.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game as Flatirons Academy has dropped just one game this season. In the 60-46 loss to Briggsdale, she did everything to keep her team in the game. She scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in that game. She scored 22 points in a win over Evangelical Christian (Colorado Springs) in her first game back from the winter break.

Kylie Krise, Briggsdale: Krise has scored fewer than 20 points just twice this season and those were in the Falcons' first two games of the season. Since then, she's been a nightmare for opposing defenses. She's averaging 22 points and 4.8 assists. Her season high in points (27) came against Flatirons Academy on Dec. 17, a game the Falcons won 60-46.

Shiinei Tallman, Antonito: The one thing Tallman has going against her is the lack of games being played this season. Antonito is just 1-3 and was out of action for nearly a month. But looking at those four games, it's hard to ignore the impact that she has on the court. She's averaging 15.5 points per game, which puts her in the top 10 of the class. Her 21.8 rebounds per game, however, are a different story. She has grabbed over 20 rebounds in three of her four games and had a season-high 26 in a 39-35 loss to Centennial early in the season.