Well, we are back to a full high school season this year with a full year outside of the pandemic. With less than a month away before the start of first practice, and the state is looking to have continued normalcy back on the hardwood for girls basketball. And again looking for continued success for the state to have no issues as the season is looking to be approaching. We still saw some schools in the beginning not participating due to the adjustment of the rules sent down by the state to protect our players. For the beginning of this season there have been some changes in player movement and coaching changes. It’s been a little hard trying to keep up with some of the rumors versus truths that have been going on. So I tried to keep up as much as possible with the landscape of girls basketball in Delaware. With that being said here is my pre-season team and player All-state rankings and synopsis for the upcoming season.
1 Sanford- This team is again the odds on favorite to win it again this year. They lost to Caravel in the state championship. They feel also as though that they under achieved based on not winning it last year. This year's team will be without 3 key seniors from last year's team. They were key contributors on the offensive and defensive end of the floor. But this year's team will be led by key seniors Azareya Kilgoe and Dallas Pierce, along rising sophomore Jada Snow, And another sophomore that will see significant time this year Layla Mahani. This team will have a hard time fending off these other top schools. Even though they lost in the championship, experience will have them back there again.
2 Caravel- Last year's state champions will be going through some radical changes this year. Caravel will have new leadership in former Wilmington University assistant coach Larry Banks. He comes in with a wealth of basketball knowledge and will hope to keep the Caravel tradition going. He will be replacing long time 16 year Caravel coach Kristin Caldwell. She will be surely missed along the sidelines. Coach Caldwell leaves him with a team led by juniors Jasiyah Crawford, Anaya Price, and super transfer from St. Georges sophomore Chasity “Speedy” Wilson. “Speedy” will be replacing some of the offense that was left by last year's super senior and two time player of the year India Johnson. These three guards will terrorize the state depending on the style of play the new coach implements. As long as they have a big that can rebound and defend they should contend again for the state chip.
3 Tatnall- This team did not surprise anyone last year. But they did surprise people by the way they played in the tournament by coming close to beating the eventual champion Caravel team. This was a well balanced attacking team and they will continue on that pace this year. They are returning 5 seniors that include Brianna Gautier, Emma Kirby, Kali Clayton along with sophomore Cherish Bryant. Experience will have this team in the hunt for a championship. I think they could get to the championship this year.
4 Woodbridge- I love the scrappiness about this team. They are loaded with everybody returning. They are returning with 5 seniors and a wealth of experience with last year's tournament birth after losing to the eventual state champions Caravel. I would not be surprised if they shocked the tournament this year and with a lucky draw made it to the championship. Their key contributors are seniors Payton Keeler, De’Asya Jones, along with junior Reghan Robinson.
5 Ursuline- Well, well, well. Head coach John Noonan has one of the best dilemmas in high school basketball. Well, at least in Delaware. He has two of the best 8th graders on the east coast to come into one school in 20 years. Not to mention one of the youngest supporting casts of talent in a long time. This team lost last year in the final four to Sanford. They lost 3 seniors and returned 3 seniors from last year's team. And those 3 seniors are maybe not in the top 6 of the rotation. And believe me he has a lot of talented players in rotation. He has clearly built this team for the future. Now the problem will be to satisfy all that current and young talent and have them play in a way to win basketball games and get the best out of each and every player. I would have had them ranked higher but inexperience will be the only thing holding them back. They return senior Hannah Kelly, new incoming freshman Skyler Bolden, And the two new 8 graders Jezelle “Gi-gi” Banks, and Taylor “Tay-tay” Brown. These two 8 graders already have high D-1 college programs vying for their services.
6 Charter of Wilmington- Now people believe that this team played a below average schedule to garner the number 3 spot in the tournament. But I will say that they played a tough game to beat St. Marks and they gave everything they had to lose to Ursuline in the tournament last year. Which says a lot about the type of team they had last year. They lost a lot of offensive power from the four seniors they lost last year. And they return 4 seniors. Again this is only pre-season and not sure how they will fare at the end of the season with that amount of experience missing. Top players returning are senior Veronica Sanchez- Wright, and juniors Danielle Kanse and Catherine Cole.
7 St. Elizabeth- This team had an unusual finish to their season last year. Rumors of the last year's coach giving up during the play offs which could have led to the team not responding and losing to Tatnall in the tournament last year. Another rumor of one of their star players possibly leaving for another school. And then the coach that has held that position since, Khadijah Rushdan played, decided to step down along with his coaching staff. Well in comes a new coach and St. Elizabeth Alum Joe Peronti. And he will have an uphill task of salvaging this great program back to prominence. They lost a big time scorer in the 2 seniors that graduated last year. They return 2 seniors, one being Farrah White, and juniors Ericka Huggins, and Sydney Hilliard. Coach Peronti's style will have to be implemented from day one for this team to show that they are better than the 7th pre-season ranking.
8 Saint Marks- This team moves up from last year's pre-season unranking in the top ten, to finishing last year's season with a 14th rank seed in the tournament, to now in the top ten in this year's pre-season rankings. The culture has changed in this program and they are looking to set their sights on challenging for a state chip this year. They lost no one from last year's team and they are returning 6 seniors that lost to charter of Wilmington in the tournament. Senior Sophia Messick, junior Lauren McDonald, and sophomore Ava Frohnpfel will lead this team this year.
9 Archmere- I feel that this team will surprise some teams this year. And I think they should fare better than their 15th seeding they had last year. I think they would have fared better in the play-offs had they not meet up with a strong Sanford team. They beat the teams I think they should beat, and they lost to the teams I think they should have lost to. They’re a strong middle of the road team with a lot more experience in this year's roster. I feel if more consistent play comes from seniors Brynn Bastian-Pastore, Allison Lenkeek, and junior Lucy Oliver they could make a nice run and upset one of these top teams.
10 Delmarva Christian- This team is better than what I predicted last year. I had them pre-season ranked as the 8th, And they finished 7th in the tournament. Unfortunately they lost to an upstart Cape Henlopen team in a very decisive game. I have them ranked at 10th this year because they lost a lot of offense in one of the two seniors that graduated last year. I feel they had a tougher schedule last year than this year but they have gained a lot of experience about being prepared for the play-offs. I feel this team will not surprise anyone this year but their schedule will keep them in the hunt for the play-offs. Another good middle of the road team that will need great play from their 3 returning seniors including Ainsley Bell, and Evelyn Jensen.
Other teams to watch for: Padua, St. Georges, A.I. DuPont, Dover, Wilmington Friends, Appo, Cape Henlopen, Lake Forest, Seaford, And DMA
Pre-Season All-State
FIRST TEAM School Year
Chasity Wilson Caravel So
Imirah Trader A.I. Dupont Sr
Emma Kirby Tatnall Sr
Azarela Kilgoe Sanford Sr
Dallas Pierce Sanford Sr (Player of the year)
SECOND TEAM School Year
Sophia Messick St. Marks Sr
Reghan Robinson Woodbridge Jr
Jada Snow Sanford So
Ericka Huggins St. Elizabeth Jr
Jezelle Banks Ursuline 8th
THIRD TEAM School Year
Taylor Brown Ursuline 8th
Ainsley Bell Delmarva Christian Sr
Cherish Bryant Tatnall So
Hannah Kelly Ursuline Sr
Delaney Burroughs Red Lion Jr
Amira Tingle Seaford So
HONORABLE MENTION School Year
Sydney Hilliard St. Elizabeth Jr
Abby Grillo Ursuline So
Anaya Price Caravel Jr
Donyae Samuels St. George’s Tech Jr
Layla Mahani Sanford So
Jayde Rivera Smyrna Sr
Deja Martin Appo Jr
Danielle Kanse Charter of Wilmington Jr
Kyla Reed Appo Jr
Lucy Oliver Archmere Jr
Erin Glanz Conrad Sr
Jasiyah Crawford Caravel Jr
Layla Dallam Brandywine Sr
Myaja Bynum Dover Sr
De’Asya Jones Woodbridge Sr
Skyler Bolden Ursuline Fr
Kimyra Cornish-Baine Seaford So
