Chaz

IMO I have ND in the top five because I think they bring good scoring basketball players combined with great athletes. Hagen and Baugh combined with all the other girls (Teirney, Hoppius, etc) will make for a strong group. They have strong freshman players coming in also Hagen and Hellman. Great new coach, new philosophies, momentum for the program. IMO they will be a good team. Too athletic to not be

Scherr may even be the best player in the region, and Schwartz close behind. But both lack varsity experience where they are relied upon. Their experience has been as helpers to the main players for Ryle. It makes sense that they would struggle finding their way being the lead players. And figuring that out as really young players too. I see them as very up and down. But not consistent enough to contend for the region this year. Also they are the opposite of Conner and lack depth in a big way.

I completely agree, I have her in my top 10 for sure.

If I offended you I apologize. I think very highly of Conner this year. They may not have a star player but they have a lot of depth IMO. In girls basketball that is huge. When your 9/10th girl is a summer AAU playing girl it will make a difference. Conner will surely rely on its main players, Burcham, Jordan, Hurst and Duncan to do the heavy lifting. Those four are all excellent players. Add in several good seniors with an incredibly strong freshman and sophomore class (even with Hurst and Jordan playing JV ball this class was the best 8th grade group), this team is poised to win games. They have Duncan and the freshman Drummonds to play big inside. Great guards and forwards. Tons of depth. Conner is just solid everywhere that's why I see them competing for the region title. Unfortunately girls basketball does not get the turnout the boys do, so having significant depth is a big factor IMO.

Main list. At this point it would easier to rank teams and girls by tiers given all the unknowns. So everything is just an educated guess really

I completely forgot, total brain fart. Sophie Hagen (Notre Dame) would likely be #10 on my list. Her injury last year kept her off a lot of radars.

Before sharing my opinion on all the differences I have, I will say I think the ninth is really hard to figure out this season (at least pre-season). Other than Holmes I think there are 7-8 teams that could make a reasonable case for number two. There are just a lot of unknowns going into this season. Here's my attempt at the top ten - Holmes Conner Highlands Holy Cross Notre Dame Cooper NCC Ryle Lloyd Beechwood Notre Dame, HC and Cooper are way too low. All three return some good players and will be good. I think Highlands (if they have Martin) and Conner (best depth in the region) have the best chance to upset Holmes for the title. Ryle has some great talent but is super young, they will likely upset some teams but they will also lose to some below average teams. Too inexperienced to be in the top 5. Lloyd and Beechwood (has best player in the region IMO) lost very little and were decent last year. I think both teams are sleeper teams to watch out for. For the rankings I believe Ally Johnson is the best player. Then Martin, L.Johnson, Scherr, Englemon in any order. Girls missing and ahead of other girls listed are Lauren Schwartz (a no brainer, heard she will play EYBL in the summer), Maddie Burcham (ht, athletic and shooter) and Jaynice Stovall (best defender). My pre-season opinion is A.Johnson Martin Englemon Scherr L.Johnson Schwartz Held Barth Stovall Burcham As others have said there are a lot of talented girls in the region, here are honorable mentions that could easily be in the top ten by the end of the season. Paige Noble - SH Kylie Anderson - Boone Zyah Beal - Boone Brooke Davis - Dixie Haley Warndorf - Ludlow Savannah Jordan - Conner Aleah Tucker - HC Maylasia Chames - HC Kennedy Baugh - NDA Hailey Anderson - Cooper