High school girls basketball: Top storylines for 2025-26 season

Lance Smith

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High school girls basketball: Top storylines for 2025-26 season image

High school girls basketball season has more and more intrigue by the year.

Each season, the talent level goes up in terms of both teams and players. And in many parts of the country, a heaping handful of the top players change teams every offseason. Sometimes it's the coaches who make headlines with their movement as well.

With so many nationally prominent teams, players, transfers, and startup programs in the high school hoops sphere, there are too many questions of national relevance to count, let alone answer, entering the 2025-26 season.

So, we picked seven of them to look at in depth. Here's what you need to know about the top storylines to track throughout this high school girls basketball season.

How will The St. James Performance Academy, Kingdom Collegiate Academy fare in year one?

When brand-new programs have the personnel to contend for a national title, which is not a common occurrence, they are almost automatically the talk of the town.

The St. James Performance Academy is so serious about immediately establishing itself as a premier prep sports program that it managed to make a dent on the national football landscape in its first year of existence. If you think forming a nationally prominent high school basketball program on the fly is a tall order – which it is – just imagine doing it for a sport that requires 11 starters on offense, 11 starters on defense, special teams stars, and separate coaches for all of football's many positions and roles. The St. James did that this fall.

So what it do to make a similar splash in the girls basketball world? How about hiring Tamika Dudley, who won a national title coaching Sidwell Friends, and assembling a star-studded roster of 5-star G Jordyn Jackson (Sidwell Friends), 5-star PG Jezelle "GG" Banks (Ursuline Academy), 4-star W Ashley MacCalla (Middletown), 4-star PG Jayda Dixon (Sidwell Friends), Denver and Dru Carlton (Bishop O'Connell), Lyla Coogan (Bishop McNamara), and Rylee Spinner (Hayfield).

Kingdom Collegiate Academy, on the other hand, has offered varsity girls basketball before, but it has a reloaded program in 2025-26 after a one-year pause. It relaunches with a host of former Faith Family Academy stars – 4-star PF Amari Byles, Texas Tech-bound sisters Gianna, Natalia, and Milania Jordan, and PGs Mia Chambers and Nadia Jordan – Cora Bennett (Judson), and Ws Gabriella and Syniyah Grigsby (North Mesquite). That's definitely an elite core, maybe even one that can compete for a national championship.

Can Saniyah Hall lead SPIRE Academy to national title contention?

Julie Vennitti Botos/ Canton Repository / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn

With top-ranked junior (at the time) Saniyah Hall leading the way, Montverde Academy came one win away from a near-consensus national title last season. And the USC signee proceeded to lead Team USA to a FIBA U19 World Cup crown and win MVP at just 16 years old over the summer. Now she's back in her home state of Ohio, where she used to play for Laurel, with revamped SPIRE Academy and three outstanding senior co-stars: Ariyana "Peanut" Cradle (Louisville) from Westerville, and Frankie McClain (Albany) from St. Joseph of Kenosha, and SPIRE's lone big-name returner, Gianel-Iman "Gigi" Quist (VCU).

It begs the question – can a team with four great players but very little depth pull together a national championship run on the fly? When many of the nation's other top teams have just as much blue chip talent in addition to depth and continuity, SPIRE Academy seems like just a bit of an underdog to make a real run at a national title. But nobody in their right mind would automatically count Saniyah Hall and company out – or pass up a chance to watch them try.

Can Sidwell Friends handle the departures of Tamika Dudley, Jordyn Jackson?

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When a program has achieved the heights the Quakers have in recent years – like putting together arguably the strongest season of all time in 2021-22 – a major personnel change is front page news even after a season in which they were "only" ranked 10th in the country.

With no seniors in the rotation last year, Sidwell Friends appeared to have another serious shot at a national title coming in 2025-26. But Tamika Dudley, head coach since 2019, left to open The St. James Performance Academy's girls basketball program in the school's inaugural year. And 5-star senior Jordyn Jackson and 4-star junior Jayda Dixon went to The St. James as well.

We started Sidwell at No. 22 nationally as it goes forward with the outstanding senior trio of Autumn Fleary (Duke), Ava Yoon (Princeton), and Genesis Schneeberg but no other surefire stars. It wouldn't be too surprising to see the Quakers far exceed that preseason ranking or fall well out of the top 25. But fans, coaches, and media across the nation will be watching closely.

Can Etiwanda win fourth straight state Open Division title, third straight national title?

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We are now in what could be year five of Etiwanda's dynasty.

Having graduated a whopping three McDonald's All-Americans – and many more impact players and D-1 recruits – in two years, the Eagles face longer odds than in either of the past two seasons to win a section, state, and national title.

But would anybody be that surprised if they pulled it off? Probably not. We sure wouldn't be. Especially not for a program that consistently maintains or elevates its level of play every postseason in playoff brackets filled with legit contenders.

Puff Morris and Grace Knox are now at Cal and LSU, respectively, but Etiwanda opened at No. 10 in the nation (No. 4 in California) in SN's preseason rankings for its slew of returning contributors and three enormous additions via transfer.

To start with, 4-star Gs Arynn Finley (Florida) and Chasity Rice form one of high school hoops' premier returning backcourts. The Eagles have two more key returners in 3-star SG Andrea Alamo and PF Aliyah Phillips. And to top it off, they've added F Tess Oldenburg from Chino, P Jaylee Moore from Caruthers, and SG Sydney Roberson from Chaminade. There might be even more firepower on deck with intriguing freshman Gs Hayley Henderson and Cassidy Morgan in the fold.

It's been a while since a national champion without a 5-star recruit was crowned, but scrappy Etiwanda would be the perfect team to break that streak while lengthening its own one.

Lastly, it's hard to overlook the fact that the Eagles won their third straight Section 7 title over the summer when Section 7 titles preceded their first two national titles. Put it together and they have more than just a puncher's chance at finishing on top yet again – not to mention a scary potential roster brewing for 2026-27.

Will Archbishop Mitty stay healthy, get over state (and national) title hump?

Photo courtesy of Aaron Woliczko

Speaking of the California state Open Division championship race, another team's ambitions to win such a title is a can't-miss storyline as well. Archbishop Mitty is the preseason No. 1 team in the country after four straight NorCal regional championships and state finals losses with injuries causing problems in each of the last three seasons. Health concerns also technically cost the Monarchs a state Open Division finals appearance in 2019-20 with the COVID-19 shutdown occurring halfway through the week of state championships in California.

In 2024-25, the Monarchs were the consensus No. 1 team in the country before 5-star F McKenna Woliczko tore her ACL. While no official timetable for return has been publicly announced, there's a good chance that Archbishop Mitty gets to pick up right where it left off with a healthy Woliczko back in time to hit her stride before the playoffs start and every single rotation member back from last season.

She'd be rejoining a core that has formed one of the better teams in the country even without her for nearly a year now. That group consists of junior Gs Ze'Ni Patterson and Tee McCarthy, 4-star SG Devin Cosgriff and fellow senior wings Emma Cook and Abi James, and 4-star sophomore PF/C Maliya Hunter.

To be sure, there are at least two more major threats to finish atop California that deserve their own blurb in this list of top storylines. Like last year, Ontario Christian and Sierra Canyon are right there and incredibly talented.

Ontario Christian's leap from breaking through as nationally relevant to nearly becoming a national champion in 2024-25 was one of the biggest stories of the season anywhere, and the Knights are once again the talk of the town with Kaleena Smith and Tati Griffin leading one of the nation's premier contenders. And with Jerzy Robinson headlining a dazzling, senior-heavy roster, Sierra Canyon has arguably its best chance on paper to win a section, state, and national crown since Juju Watkins graduated in 2023.

What does the landscape look like in Texas (UIL)?

Only a few short years ago, UIL-sanctioned Texas high school girls basketball teams comprised a substantial chunk of the nationally ranked tier of programs. And that group was headlined by overpowering rivals DeSoto and Duncanville. Fast forward to 2025-26, and Texas didn't open with any teams widely ranked in national top 25s – other than non-association prep programs Legion Preparatory Academy and newcomer Kingdom Collegiate Academy.

Might this be the season where it just becomes normal to not have a UIL team or two anywhere near a national championship? Maybe, but not necessarily. With so many outstanding teams and such a long season, Texas high school girls basketball is usually marvelously unpredictable, and there are always unexpected breakout teams at or near the top. The nature of the gauntlet allows teams to pile up the resume wins quickly and plentifully.

And even with almost all of Texas' top UIL teams from 2024-25 graduating or losing key players, there are countless teams that have a chance to be special in 2025-26 even if they aren't pegged as national championship threats. That includes incumbent alphas with some key returners such as Denton Ryan, Boswell, Decatur, Lancaster, Lincoln, Summer Creek, and Tascosa, and up-and-coming squads that might have what it takes to vault towards the top after a fruitful offseason. So far in 2025-26, the latter group is headlined by a partially rebuilt Wagner squad and a major breakout team in Westlake, which have opened 14-0 and 17-0, respectively.

However the rankings shake out, the UIL's top teams have long been a core tenet of high school girls basketball's top tier, and fans from far away from Texas will be watching closely to see how Texas' changes affect the overall landscape.

Can Princess Anne, Johnston, Providence Academy go undefeated again?

Incarnate Word Academy's record-breaking winning streak of 141 games ended last season at the hands of Etiwanda last season.

That puts the nation's other top teams that are coming off undefeated seasons even farther into the forefront than they'd already be.

Reigning MSHSL AA state champion Providence Academy graduated two key players in 6-foot-2 forward Hope Counts (Lipscomb) and W McKenna Schafer but returned 5-star senior PG Maddyn Greenway and junior G Emma Millerbernd, among others, after going 32-0. The Lions' winning streak ended at 44 games, however, as fellow Minnesota juggernaut Hopkins defeated them 78-74 in their second game of 2025-26.

So, Princess Anne and Johnston now take over as the lone nationally ranked teams that haven't lost in more than a full season.

For Princess Anne, that honor comes with an asterisk, as the Cavaliers lost by one point to Sidwell Friends in The Throne national postseason tournament to go 28-1. But as far as association-sanctioned play goes, the reigning VHSL Class 5 champs haven't lost since December of 2023 and enter the season on a 43-game tear in which almost every win was a total blowout. To wit, the Cavaliers have started 3-0 this season by a combined score of 239-51. 5-star junior W Micah Ojo leads the way for a team that returned every key player but one and remains quite a heavy favorite against everyone else in Virginia (and most states, for that matter).

Nursing a long undefeated streak is nothing new for two-time defending IGHSAU 5A champion Johnston, which went 26-0 last season and 29-0 the prior year. Throw in its 4-0 start to 2025-26 and Johnston has won 59 games in a row for one of the nation's longest active winning streaks – if not the very longest. The Dragons graduated 4-star P Amani Jenkins (Virginia Tech) but brought back almost everyone else, including 5-star senior SG and recent Notre Dame commit Jenica Lewis, plus a handful of talented underclassmen who could break out at a high level.

It's hard not to like Johnston's chances of making it three straight undefeated seasons. But the team that's usually the Dragons' biggest threat, Dowling Catholic, is also national-caliber this season, and Johnston has to face Dowling Catholic twice in conference play every year before a potential third meeting in the postseason. The rivalry renews on Dec. 16 and Feb. 3. Johnston also has an interstate matchup with Minnesota heavyweight Wayzata on Dec. 20.