Breaking down the area’s top high school girls’ basketball teams this season

In the past two years, the area has produced some of the best girls’ basketball talent in the nation. This season will be no different.

Other than Westtown School, which plays in the non-PIAA affiliated Friends Schools League, not one team is dominant. In the Catholic League, the deepest, most talented league in the state, defending champion Neumann Goretti will face challenges from Archbishop Carroll and a young, maturing Cardinal O’Hara team. In District 1, defending PIAA Class 6A champion Perkiomen Valley was hit hard by graduation, leaving the door open this season to Suburban One League powers Upper Dublin and Central Bucks East along with Ches-Mont League stalwart Downingtown East.

In the Public League, rivals Universal Audenried Charter and Imhotep Charter will again be contenders. The Friends Schools League features two teams, Westtown and Friends Central, with national level talent.

Here are some of the area’s top girls’ basketball teams to watch this season.

The Patriots finished 20-10 last season and return a loaded team that has been to the Catholic League championship the last two years. The last time Carroll won the PCL was 2019. Carroll is one of the best shooting teams in the area, with a nucleus led by Villanova-bound senior guard Alexis Eberz and her sophomore twin sisters. Kelsey Eberz is recovering from a season-ending knee injury suffered in December 2024 and Kayla Eberz is arguably one of the best players in the PCL. Carroll, which also features 6-foot senior Bridget Grant and junior guard Abbie McFillin, last won the PIAA Class 6A championship in 2023, and reached the state semifinals last year, losing to eventual state champion Perkiomen Valley.

The Rockets will look to move forward without generational star Shayla Smith, now at Penn State after becoming the all-time scoring leader in the city, finishing with 2,690 points. Audenried ended last season 23-8, one game away from making history as the first girls’ Public League team to reach and win a state final. The three-time defending Public League champion Rockets were stopped by eventual PIAA Class 4A champion Neumann Goretti in the state semifinal. They return one of the nation’s top players in 6-foot-3 junior forward Nasiaah Russell, along with seniors Heaven Reese, Aniyah Cheesboro, and Raven Robinson.

The traditional Catholic League powerhouse went 17-9 last season and reached the Catholic League semifinals along with the PIAA Class 6A state quarterfinals. The Lions are a young, evolving team centered on Drexel-bound Megan Rullo, a 5-8 point guard. Junior guards Brigidanne Donohue and Leah Hudak give the Lions depth and outside shooting, while 5-11 junior Carly Wakefield is an athletic inside presence. The Lions will be looking for the maturation of 6-3 freshman forward Olivia Craft, along with 6-1 sophomore guard Catie Doogan. Expect the Lions to be more dangerous in February.

The Patriots have four of five starters from last season’s team that went 22-8 overall, won the Suburban One League Colonial Division, and reached the District 1 Class 6A semifinals, where they lost to eventual state champion Perkiomen Valley. Seniors Jess Lockwood, Natalie Berndt, and Emma Penecale and junior point guard Haley Moran lead CB East, which lost to O’Hara in the first round of the PIAA 6A playoffs.

This is a team that coach Darren Domsohn has been cultivating for the last few years. The Cougars went 24-6 last season and return every significant player from a team that reached the District 1 6A quarterfinals and the second round of the state playoffs. With a core group consisting of seniors in UTEP-bound Charlotte Aldridge, point guard Chloe Hunold, sharpshooter Grace Hodges, and talented 5-9 junior guard Kendall Chiavelli, the Cougars may be good enough to play into March.

» READ MORE: Top high school girls’ basketball players to watch out for in the 2025-26 season

The Phoenix are one of the best teams in the state, led by two national-level juniors in Zya Small, a 6-1 guard/forward, and Ryan Carter, a gifted 5-11 guard who transferred from Archbishop Wood after averaging 17 points last season. The problem Friends’ Central faces is that it also happens to be in the same Friends Schools League as Westtown, the best team in the state and among the top teams in the country. The Phoenix finished 21-9 last season and reached the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) state championship, where they lost to rival Westtown.

The Panthers went 23-7 overall before losing in the state semifinals, 65-46, to eventual PIAA Class 3A champion Loyalsock. Like Audenried, they, too, are aiming for history this season as the first girls’ Public League team to reach and win a state championship. They have some talent to do it in 5-11 senior twins Geren and Crystal Hawthorne and 5-7 sophomore guard Taylor Linton. Imhotep has been to the Public League finals the last 13 years — the last 10 under coach David Hargrove — with its last league title coming in 2022.

The Saints are the defending Catholic League and PIAA Class 4A champions. They went 26-3 last season and will be moving forward without two generational players in four-year starters Carryn Easley (Fordham) and Amya Scott (Delaware State). Neumann Goretti does have a talented group back for coach Andrea Peterson, who has won six state titles and three Catholic League championships in 11 years. In 5-8 junior guard Reginna Baker, Peterson has one of the best players in the PCL, back with senior guards Kamora Berry and Zion Coston. The Saints also feature 6-foot sophomore forward Chrisette King, and 5-7 freshman guard Azzure O’Connor, the daughter of former Simon Gratz star Marvin O’Connor.

The Cardinals are one of the more dynamic teams to watch in District 1 6A. They finished 24-6 overall last season, reaching the district semifinals, before they were ousted in the opening round of the state playoffs. Upper Dublin is led by 5-4 Fairleigh Dickinson-bound Megan Ngo, La Salle-bound Emilia Coleman, and stellar 5-9 junior guard Tamia Clark. The Cardinals are among the favorites in District 1 and may arguably be the fastest team in the area.

The Moose are the area’s most dominant team, going 27-4 last year and winners of five straight Friends Schools League titles and four straight PAISAA championships. They are riding a five-year winning streak in the Friends Schools League. It is a fun, star-studded team led by Jordyn Palmer, a 6-1 junior guard, 6-foot Ohio State-bound point guard Atlee Vanesko, and 6-foot junior guard Jada Lynch. Inside help comes from a pair of 6-2 forwards, Lara Csaplár-Nagy, a junior, and senior Venessa Kaukenas.