NKY girls basketball coaches vote on top 10 teams and players - LINK nky

The northern Kentucky girls basketball coaches have voted on their top 10 teams and players leading into the 2024-25 season.

The regular season gets underway Dec. 2.

Here’s the top 10 preseason teams:

Notre Dame – Falling to Highlands in the 9th Region tournament quarterfinals, the Pandas are poised for a big season. They return Yale commit Sophia Gibson and Maya Lawrie and bring in Boone County transfer Joslyn LaBordeaux-Humphrey.
Cooper – A KHSAA State semifinalist last season, the Lady Jaguars were hit hard by graduation losing four of their five starters. Sophomore Haylee Noel will step into a larger role as the lone returning starter.
Highlands – The Bluebirds had just one senior off last season’s region semifinal team and return one of the best players in all of northern Kentucky in Marissa Green.
Simon Kenton – With the loss of head coach Brenden Stowers to the NKU women’s basketball staff, his dad, Jeff Stowers is back as the head coach of the Lady Pioneers. A favorite to win the 8th Region, they’re a young team that returns all five of their starters.
Ryle – The Lady Raiders are coming off a 9th Region tournament runner-up season without four of their five starters. Jaelyn Jones is the single returning starter, averaging 11.6 points last season. They also return Jayden McClain, an 8th grader who has several D-1 offers.
Campbell County – The Camels were rolling before running into 10th Region heavyweight, George Rogers Clark, in the region title game. Leading the team that won 22 games last season is Isabella Jayasuria, the team leader in points with 13.2 a game.
Holy Cross – The defending Kentucky All “A” State Champions lost their top player Julia Hunt, but that doesn’t mean the Indians aren’t out of the picture. They return Aumani Nelson, DMyah Williams, Aniyah Carter and Alyssa Arlinghaus, each key contributors.
Dixie Heights – The Colonels won the 34th District Championship before losing to Ryle in the first round of the 9th Region Tournament. Fortunately, for Dixie they return their leading scorer, Catherine Buddenberg.
Conner – The Lady Cougars lost their star player, Anna Hamilton, but return junior Izelee Kerns, who averaged 9.3 points a game last season.
Bishop Brossart – The Lady ‘Stangs return their top two scorers, Rachel Shewmaker and Zoee Meyers who averaged a combined 21 points, giving Brossart a good chance for redemption from last season’s early exit in the 37th District Tournament.

Here’s top 10 preseason players:

Newport Central Catholic’s Caroline Eaglin is headed to NKU next year. Photo provided | Charles Bolton

Marissa Green, Highlands – The University of Illinois-Chicago commit was a double-double machine last season averaging 15.6 points and nine rebounds a game.
Caroline Eaglin, Newport Central Catholic – Eaglin torched opponents last season putting up 21.9 points a game and bringing down a team-high 7.4 rebounds. She’s committed to NKU.
Sophia Gibson, Notre Dame – Gibson made her impact known in the paint, scoring, blocking shots, and pulling down rebounds. The Yale commit averaged 13.1 points and 7.8 rebounds.
Brynli Pernell, Simon Kenton – Pernell has a bright future ahead. Last season she averaged 16.1 points and made 77 three-pointers.
Haylee Noel, Cooper – Noel will be in the spotlight even more this season, averaging 7.8 points and leading the Lady Jaguars in rebounding with 5.4 a game. Her most recent college offer came from the University of Cincinnati.
Jaelyn Jones, Ryle – As a sophomore, Jones averaged 11.6 points a game. She currently has an offer from Bellarmine.
Aumani Nelson, Holy Cross – Due to the loss of Julia Hunt and Miyah Wimzie, Nelson is in for a large role. She was the second-leading scorer on the team at 10.5 points, also knocking down 45 shots from deep.
Isabella Jayasuria, Campbell County – Jayasuria helped the Camels reach the 10th Region Championship for the first time since 2020. She averaged 13.2 points a game, pulling down six rebounds a game as well.
Catherine Buddenberg, Dixie Heights – Buddenberg is the lead-returning scorer for the Colonels at 12.9 points a game. She also shot 42 percent from three and hit 45 treys.
Braylin Terrell, Walton-Verona – Terrell did a little bit of everything for the Bearcats last season. She averaged 11.6 points, shot 58% from the field, and brought down 10 rebounds a game. Terrell is picking up offer after offer, including most recently Otterbein, Midway, and Transylvania.

The 9th Region girls basketball coaches have a slightly different view on things. In their poll of 15 coaches in the region, they still kept Cooper as the top dog headed into the season.

Here is the results of the 9th Region preseason coaches poll and top 10 players:

Top 10 teams (first place votes in parentheses):