The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Girls basketball preview: League-by-league breakdown

Snow cancels basketball games, many already rescheduled
2/10/10
Waynesville selects Philpot as football coach
2/10/10
Longtime hoops assistant shaped great area talents
2/9/10
High school, college basketball makeup dates
2/9/10
Madison stalls Waynesville to clinch title
2/9/10
> More high school headlines

Updated 5:44 PM Thursday, November 26, 2009

GREATER WESTERN OHIO CONFERENCE

North Division

Vandalia Butler (20-4, 7-1): Three Aviators signed letters of intent earlier this month to play D-I college ball — Kacie Cassell (Akron), Brianna Innocent (Western Michigan) and Lianna Innocent (Morehead State) — making it one of the area’s most talented teams.

Trotwood-Madison (11-10, 7-1): The Rams have shown the ability to turn it on for conference play; they’ve gone a combined 38-24 in the past three seasons but have finished 24-4 in the league.

Troy (9-14, 3-5): Kaitlyn Francis returns as one of the Trojans’ only two seniors after averaging 9.6 points and 4.1 rebounds. Troy will also have four of its top seven scorers back.

Sidney (6-15, 2-6): The Yellow Jackets expect leadership from returning starters Brittney Koester and Sarah Karas and hope to improve their defense that allowed an average of 54 points per game.

Piqua (3-18, 1-7): The Indians had six varsity players last season, but return all five starters and have gained confidence with some summer-league success behind senior guard Beth Caldwell (11.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg last season).

Central Division

Beavercreek (21-3, 9-1): Coach Ed Zink enters his 35th season with a 635-165 record needing some help in the post to replace Mikaela Ruef, who now plays for Stanford. Senior guard Sara Kocian will help as a third-year starter.

Fairmont (22-4, 9-1): The Firebirds claim one of the area’s best players in Cassie Sant, the 6-foot-2, University of Dayton-bound forward who averaged 13.6 points and 8 boards.

Wayne (13-9, 6-4): The Warriors lost the conference’s leading scorer Mercedes Miller (17.4 ppg) but used a 10-1 stretch through the middle of the season to gain confidence.

Centerville (9-12, 4-6): The Elks will have two of their top three scorers back in junior forward Ainsleigh Krause (6.7 ppg) and junior guard Kristin Bruggeman (6.2).

Northmont (8-13, 2-8): The Thunderbolts get back all five starters (and still start just two seniors) while playing their usual fast-paced game, helped by Krista Knapke, who was second-team all-division as a freshman last season.

Springfield (4-17, 0-10): The Wildcats won two of their first three games against Stebbins and Troy before struggling through the rest of their schedule.

SOUTH DIVISION

Xenia (20-2, 8-0): The Buccaneers finished No. 10 in the final D-I AP poll last season, and they return three starters, including Wright State commit Jessica Alexander, who was second in the conference at 16.1 ppg.

Springboro (14-8, 5-3): The Panthers will look heavily to 6-foot junior Olivia Schretzman, who averaged 13.2 points and 6.1 rebounds last season, including double-doubles in two of her final five games.

Fairborn (14-8, 3-5): The Skyhawks are expected to be one of the area’s top teams this season, but early injuries during preseason practices have caused third-year coach Steve Hannaford to do some shuffling.

Miamisburg (10-11, 3-5): The Vikings have three of their top five scorers from last season returning, including senior guard Chelsea LaPorte, who averages 15.4 points and 5.8 assists.

Lebanon (7-15, 1-7): Seven wins might not seem like a lot, but it was an improvement from zero of the season before after Rob Hodges joined the team as head coach after assisting for the boys team.

SOUTHWESTERN BUCKEYE LEAGUE

Buckeye Division

Waynesville (19-4 overall, 12-0 league last season): Three starters return from a team that rolled through the regular season but ran into shooting woes in the sectional final.

Mid. Madison (20-6, 10-2): Led by Buckeye Division MVP Ally Malott, the Mohawks are primed for a return trip to the regional final ... and maybe more.

Dixie (7-14, 7-5): First-year coach Anya Johnsman starts the rebuilding process by taking over a team that graduated all five starters.

Monroe (8-13, 6-6): Hornets look to reverse that record as three starters return for defensive-minded, first-year coach Krista Doan.

Carlisle (11-11, 5-7): Confident Indians are shooting for first winning season in a decade after a season that saw them win their first tourney game in seven seasons.

Northridge (5-16, 2-10): Crashing the boards and improving field-goal percentages — two areas of struggle for the team last season — are musts for the Polar Bears.

Preble Shawnee (0-20, 0-12): Arrows showed improvement from winless season in 2007-08, especially offensively. Now the goal is to build on that and break through with a few wins.

Southwestern Division

Brookville (17-4, 10-2): Wright State-bound Courtney Boyd, 86 points shy of 1,000 for her career, leads the Blue Devils’ chase toward another league title.

Milton-Union (18-5, 9-3): Bulldogs return just one senior and little varsity experience for new coach Richard Cline.

Bellbrook (13-10, 9-3): Golden Eagles are still young despite three returning starters (senior, two sophomores) but a strong finish last season kept their streak of 20 straight winning seasons intact.

1 | 2 next page »

Share this article

ADD COMMENT

Comments feed

Bad weekend for what is left of the DDN prep sports staff. First you screw up the All-Area team putting kids in wrong divisions and leaving off some good players. Now you leave out some leagues like the Metro Buckeye, Cross County and MAC. Are you guys purposely trying to ******* what is left of your subscribers? Please *********** together.

Disappointed reader
9:48 PM, 11/27/2009

REPORT ABUSE

again the DDN has ignored the Metro Buckeye - AGAIN

DC Dad
2:17 PM, 11/27/2009

REPORT ABUSE

We welcome your comments. Please remember this is a public forum and behave appropriately. Your comments must conform to our visitor's agreement.