A look at the girls' leagues

PLAYERS TO WATCH Jenkintown's Emma Dorshimer is one of the most prolific scorers in the league, as the senior guard averaged a little more than 20 points a game last season. For the Falcons, Katherine Ollinger, Tracey Goodman, and Keyen Green return from the starting lineup. Green, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, averaged 13.6 points last year. Lower Moreland will look to a pair of juniors in Lauren Killion and Bridgette Alexander, and New Hope-Solebury should rely on junior Toni Shuler and senior Annie Behre.

TEAMS TO WATCH After a 26-5 overall record, a District 1 Class A title, and a trip to the PIAA state semifinals last season, Phil-Mont Christian is hoping for repeat success this year. In the Falcons' way in Bicentennial play will be Jenkintown, Lower Moreland, and New Hope-Solebury.

FAST FACT Dorshimer enters her final season with 1,412 career points, having reached 1,000 in the fewest games in Jenkintown history.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Libby Tacka, a junior guard, and Mary Kate Ulasewicz, a senior guard, are the only two returning starters for Mount, and junior Danielle Knopp is the only piece of the starting five back for the Hurricanes. Tacka buried 29 three-pointers last season. For Gwynedd Mercy, junior Erica DeCandido and senior Emily Sullivan are back. Caroline Corzel, a junior guard who averaged a little less than 11 points last year, returns for Merion. Junior Karen Lapiewicz, who led St. Basil in scoring during some of its biggest games a season ago, is one to watch for the Panthers.

TEAMS TO WATCH The perennial powerhouses - Mount St. Joseph and Villa Maria - each lost a lot of talent to graduation, but that doesn't mean they don't have young players waiting in the wings. That both squads can reload so seamlessly is a reason they are in contention for a title each year. Merion Mercy and Gwynedd Mercy can improve on last season's eight- and seven-win totals in league play, respectively.

FAST FACTS Villa Maria won three of the last four District 1 Class AAA titles, and St. Basil is the district's two-time Class AA defending champ.

PLAYERS TO WATCH The Saints have four Division I recruits: including Ciani Cryor (Georgia Tech), Sianni Martin (Towson), A.J. Timbers (Towson), and Christina Aborowa (Texas).

Prendie's Alyssa Monaghan is headed to St. Joseph's, Carroll's Lexi Stover is a Rider signee, and Wood's Aubree Brown has committed to Drexel.

TEAMS TO WATCH Neumann-Goretti won the Catholic League championship last season in commanding fashion, as the Saints went through the regular season undefeated. They have a wealth of talent returning and are the favorites to repeat.

Other teams in the mix include defending District 12 Class AAA champ Archbishop Wood and Bonner-Prendergast, which both competed in the PIAA Class AAA state tournament last year. Archbishop Ryan and Archbishop Carroll also are poised for solid seasons, and you can never count out Cardinal O'Hara.

FAST FACTS Neumann-Goretti averaged 64 points last season, allowing an average of just 37. The Saints outscored opponents 1,919-1,113 over 30 games and scored a season-high 87 points against West Catholic.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Garnet Valley senior guard Jordan Ireland is a New Jersey Institute of Technology recruit, and her younger sister, Madison Ireland, averaged 11 points last year. For Conestoga, look for 6-2 junior forward Ellie Mack to be a big part of the Pioneers' offense. She averaged 13 points last season. At Marple Newton, guard Rylee Power is one to watch, as she averaged 19.6 points last season as a junior.

TEAMS TO WATCH Garnet Valley won the program's first Central League title last season, going undefeated in league play at 18-0. The Jaguars should be poised for another conference run and hope to qualify for the state tournament for the third straight year.

Radnor is the defending District 1 Class AAA champion, and Harriton returns three starters: Olivia Tevis, Sophie Grady, and Christina Mullen.

FAST FACT The Jaguars didn't just go through the league undefeated last year, but they did so in dominating fashion, outscoring conference foes by 1,427-579.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Downingtown West's Maddie Dew has been fun to watch at point guard since she burst onto the scene as a freshman, and the senior will help power the offense this season. Rustin has senior starters Noelle Powell and Casey Warley back, and junior guard Paige Warfel and junior forward Lindsay Kent return for Downingtown East. Last year, Kate Lannon averaged more than 16 points a game for Sun Valley as a freshman. Expect more of that explosive scoring again from the forward/guard.

TEAMS TO WATCH For the last two seasons, West Chester Rustin's star has been on the ascent, as the Golden Knights have become the team to beat in the not only the Ches-Mont League American Division, but also in the entire league. They return a plethora of talent: four starters and some depth off the bench.

More importantly, it's a group that received a ton of experience the last two seasons, as Rustin is just a year removed from reaching the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals.

In the Ches-Mont National, Downingtown East will aim to defend its title, returning 11 players from last year's roster. Bishop Shanahan and Downingtown West will look to contend in the National, as well.

FAST FACT Celebrated Downingtown East coach Bob Schnure likely will go for his 300th win in league play Dec. 16 against Downingtown West. His career record stands at 298-68 in 35 seasons.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Junior forward Dahnye Redd (16.1 ppg) and senior guard Lorna Caesar (9.9 ppg) are two to watch for Penn Wood. La'Naysia Dixon paced Chester last year, averaging 13.3 points, and Maddie Thornton and Lauren Carrafa should help Chichester continue to make strides.

TEAMS TO WATCH Last season, Penn Wood was just two wins removed from a berth in the PIAA Class AAAA state tournament. The extremely athletic Patriots return quite a few pieces from the team that went undefeated against conference opponents last year.

FAST FACTS Penn Wood and Chester qualified for the District 1 Class AAAA tournament last season, as the Patriots earned the 13th seed and Chester was seeded 29th. As the fourth seed in the Class AAA tournament, Chichester dropped a close one in the second round.

PLAYERS TO WATCH As a freshman, Friends' Central center Mikayla Vaughn averaged 15 points and a little less than 12 rebounds. One of her teammates, junior guard Iyanna McCurdy, averaged 17 points in 24 contests. Alexa Middleton, a junior forward, was a force down low for Abington Friends, averaging 13.4 points. Shipley has two Division I recruits in Nia Holland (Lafayette) and Martine Fortune (Georgia Tech).

TEAMS TO WATCH Shipley has dominated the league the last couple of seasons, not dropping a Friends game in four years and capturing four consecutive titles. Losing only two seniors sets the Gators up for another strong run. Another team that likely will vie for the league title is Friends' Central, whose roster was full of freshmen and sophomores last season.

FAST FACT Sean Costello, who took the Gators to unprecedented levels of success in his six years as head coach, is now an assistant coach at Appalachian State. Kevin Costello, Sean's brother, and Alex Lennon have been elevated from assistants to co-head coaches.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Episcopal's Maria Kilcullen will play for Loyola (Md.) next year. Olivia Gorman averaged 15 points last season for GA and should be a primary playmaker. The senior guard will get help from fellow guard Kendall Grasela, as well as guard Erin Lindahl and forward Lauren Oeth. Penn Charter has sharpshooting junior guards in Ayanna Matthews and Hannah Fox. Fox averaged a little more than 13 points a game last season, and Matthews added 11 a contest. They combined to hit 93 threes.

TEAMS TO WATCH With a 15-7 overall record last season and an 11-1 mark in league play, Episcopal Academy won its second straight Inter-Ac championship. The Churchwomen will look to defend their title against a host of expected contenders, including Germantown Academy, Notre Dame, and Penn Charter.

GA advanced to the Independent Schools tournament final last season, and Penn Charter was ousted in the semifinals. Notre Dame, although very young, proved to be tough to beat and had a couple of big victories, including two against Penn Charter.

FAST FACTS Germantown Academy has finished the season atop the Inter-Ac 25 times since 1984. The Patriots captured the league championship every year from 1999 until 2012, the program's most recent title.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Spring-Ford's Maggie Locke is a Holy Cross recruit who averaged almost eight points a game for the Rams. This season, she will be called upon to do more of the scoring and should play a big role on both ends of the floor. Susan Bossler became an impact player for the Pope John Paul II offense in her first year with the team, netting 44 three-pointers in 23 games. Junior KT Armstrong led the conference in scoring, averaging 14.7 a game for Perkiomen Valley. The 6-2 forward is a hard one to stop in the paint and tough to beat on the boards.

TEAMS TO WATCH All but one player from the 2013-14 Pope John Paul II roster returns, making the Golden Panthers the team to beat in the Frontier Division. In the Liberty Division, graduation hit hard for Spring-Ford and Methacton, and both squads must figure out what to do now that they are without two premier players each. This could leave an opening for Boyertown.

FAST FACT The Rams continue the tradition of having an extremely difficult nonleague schedule, something that has paid dividends in the District 1 Class AAAA and PIAA state tournaments. This year's premier matchup will be a Jan. 11 date with the team that beat them in the state final last season, Cumberland Valley.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Bodine junior guard Tiana Garvin really stood out last season for the Ambassadors with her scoring ability. Bryce Garrett from Bartram averaged 19.7 points. Deja Reynolds, a Temple recruit, and Bionca Dunham will make for a deadly combination for Imhotep.

TEAMS TO WATCH Imhotep Charter is the team to beat across all the league's divisions, as the defending overall Public League champs appear poised for another deep run. In Class AAA, it could come down to a battle between Mastery Charter North and Bodine.

FAST FACT Only three of Imhotep's 23 wins last season were by single digits, as the Panthers dominated all aspects of the game, especially in league play.

PLAYERS TO WATCH Abington dynamic guard Deja Rawls is a Siena recruit, and C.B. West has two Division I recruits: senior guards Nicole Munger (Michigan) and Mackenzie Carroll (Colgate). Cheltenham senior Amarri Truehart is headed to Albany, and teammate Ashley Jones, an explosive sophomore, averaged almost 22 points last season. Alynna Williams, a Philadelphia University recruit, powers Plymouth Whitemarsh.

TEAMS TO WATCH After Abington failed to capture the Suburban One National title last year, expect the Ghosts to take control of the conference. They got hot late last season, making a run through the District 1 Class AAAA playoffs and advancing to the state quarterfinals.

In the Suburban One Continental, Central Bucks West is the front-runner, but look for North Penn to be in the hunt with a strong trio of sophomores in Sam Carangi, Jess Huber, and Irisa Ye.

With a 10-4 record last season in the American Conference, Cheltenham finished in third place, behind Upper Dublin and Plymouth Whitemarsh. Be on the lookout for the Panthers this season.

FAST FACT It is hard to believe with the immense success North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire has had in 24 years of coaching, but last year's District 1 Class AAAA title was her first. She stands at 453 career wins.