GILL, Mass. — Finally! We have basketball to analyze.
A handful of girls NEPSAC teams started their seasons this week, including in the NMH Tip-Off Classic at Northfield Mount Hermon. Three of the top 10 teams in our preseason power rankings — Dexter Southfield, Northfield Mount Hermon and Wilbraham and Monson — plus Darrow, a new Class AA member, played two games each on Friday and Saturday.
I traveled through the hills up to Gill for Friday's slate and immediately was treated to a fantastic Dexter Southfield comeback victory in overtime against Darrow. Then host NMH earned a convincing win against Wilbraham and Monson to set the tone in a Class AA matchup. Though I was not in attendance Saturday, I did watch the live streams for both contests.
The winter season is long, and there's plenty of time for teams to develop synergy. That being said, several players popped immediately, including a few who were not on my initial radar. Here were my favorite performances:
Results
Friday Game 1: Dexter Southfield 58, Darrow 52 (OT)
Friday Game 2: Northfield Mount Hermon 45, Wilbraham and Monson 33
Saturday Game 1: Wilbraham and Monson 48, Dexter Southfield 41
Saturday Game 2: Northfield Mount Hermon 48, Darrow 41
Standouts
Izzy Adams, Dexter Southfield
Class of 2026, 5-8 guard
Hometown: Walpole, Mass.
Adams did not play her best basketball in the first half of Friday's win, when Dexter trailed by double digits at halftime, and she missed two easy fast-break layups to start the second half. But then a switch flipped. Adams became more assertive driving the basketball herself, rejecting ball screens for one-on-one drives and embracing contact in the paint. The transfer point guard powered Dexter's big turnaround, ending up with 16 points, 5 assists and a handful of steals.
We could see Adams learn the pace and size of her opponents, remember her own strengths (literally and figuratively) and regain her confidence. Friday and Saturday weren't perfect from Adams, or Dexter as a team, but I thought she gave herself a great performance to build on.
Brooke Nunnally-Gardner, Dexter Southfield
Class of 2026, 6-0 forward
Hometown: Stoughton, Mass.
Nunnally-Gardner provided the most consistent impact on a young Dexter Southfield team that had a bumpy 1-1 weekend. She was the best player in Saturday's loss with 18 points and 7 rebounds, displaying polished footwork with her back to the basket, great touch around the rim and heads-up court awareness at the center of Dexter's press-breaking offense.
Though Nunnally-Gardner got into foul trouble that derailed her second half Friday, she was the bright spot keeping Dexter together as the team struggled in the first half. Nunnally-Gardner had three separate putback scores as part of her 10 points and picked up a couple of assists, including a nice feed from the corner to a cutter for a layup. She's going to be a rock for Dexter as the rest of the young talent develops consistency.
Quick shoutouts for Dexter: Top 2028 prospect Ella Peper had an up-and-down shooting weekend, but I appreciated her work moving without the basketball and setting screens Friday, especially on some well-designed inbound plays. She also grabbed a ton of rebounds. ... It felt like 2027 guard Sam Barton found herself in the right place at the right time a lot, whether grabbing an offensive rebound or cutting and earning shots.
Amanda Smith, Darrow
Class of 2025, 5-8 guard
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Smith became Darrow's first-ever Division 1 signee when she inked her NLI to play at East Carolina two weeks ago. She was great in Friday's game, better than her 8 points and 4 assists will show. Smith is very thoughtful with how she uses ball screens; I saw one play where she got around a hedge on a screen, saw that help was coming from deeper in the paint and adjusted into a step-back, mid-range bucket. She's also adept at reading when corner shooters open up on her drives and making those passes.
On Saturday, Smith showed a bit more of her impressive court vision with a heads-up transition pass, and also managed a difficult finish at the rim through contact.
Jill Dingler, Darrow
Class of 2026, 5-7 guard
Hometown: Storrs, Conn.
Dingler finished with 10 points and 4 assists Friday, doing a little bit of everything for Darrow in its statement opener. She had this chaotic coast-to-coast transition play where she spiraled through three defenders and made it to about the free throw line before dumping off a pass for an easy Alanah Barnhill layup. Dingler hit a 3-pointer, drove hard and either kicked out to the corner shooter or drew contact at the rim. She even defended the 6-4 Peper and made possessions frustrating. Dingler transferred into Darrow from Edwin O. Smith High, and so far, she looks like an underrated program addition.
Daniella McLean, Darrow
Class of 2025, 6-3 center
Hometown: Syracuse, N.Y.
McLean's impact as a rim-running center grew more obvious as the weekend progressed. She was consistent in her effort level corralling offensive rebounds — I counted eight Friday and nine Saturday, and those might be low totals — and she looked fast when she ran the floor in transition. McLean scored 10 points Friday mostly via putbacks and dump-off layups. Her length also helped her jump passes and force turnovers on defense.
Quick shoutouts for Darrow: Even in two losses, the Ducks as a team really impressed in their first big tests as a Class AA program, going toe-to-toe with two top programs. Many of the players were new names to me, and I didn't even include some of their leading scorers. Madison Pepra-Omani, a 2025 guard, caught fire on Saturday with four 3-pointers. ... 2025 guard Jayla Hughley logged a much better performance Saturday with 12 points, showing more confidence getting to shots she wanted in the mid-range.
Breena Hannon, Northfield Mount Hermon
Class of 2026, 5-9 guard
Hometown: East Providence, R.I.
Hannon had my favorite single-game performance of the weekend in Friday's victory. She strung together three consecutive possessions of direct cuts from the top of the arc to the basket, was rewarded on all three cuts and converted all three layups during the second quarter. Her 17 points featured two 3s, including a step-back bucket shortly after those cutting scores, plus an and-1 finish. NMH used her in a few creative ways, either as a playmaker out of the elbow, or spacing the floor behind the arc, or with her cuts. Then on defense, she frequently switched onto WMA's post players and guarded them admirably. Regardless of the situation, Hannon found ways to make an impact.
Grace Minihane, Northfield Mount Hermon
Class of 2025, 6-0 forward
Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.
Minihane was on my list of must-track transfers well before the season began; she put an immediate stamp on both NMH wins with her driving game. She finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds Friday — all on two-points shots, except for the free throw following her first and-1 bucket — and followed up with 10 points and 6 rebounds Saturday. Minihane's hard-charging drives were tough to stop, but she also found pockets behind the defense and simply waited for her teammates to find her for easy layups. Her most impressive play came Saturday when she jumped a pass, took the ball the length of the floor herself and used a nice step-through finish to score.
Zariah Ottley, Northfield Mount Hermon
Class of 2027, 5-7 guard
Hometown: Rockland, Mass.
There's no way to succinctly describe how unique Ottley is as a player. She was one of my favorite watches this weekend and shined on Saturday with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Ottley's shotmaking was remarkably diverse: a crossover into a driving layup, a pull-up jumper in the mid-range, a spot-up corner 3 and a sweet, one-legged fadeaway out of an elbow touch. Her power drives make sense given her strong frame; the ball-handling and natural shooting touch take Ottley up another level.
Ottley's 3x5 effort Friday (5 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) also deserves recognition. Most of her rebounds were effort plays that helped keep possessions alive. She scored one basket on a difficult driving layup through contact and had another fadeaway just beyond the low block. Ottley saw the floor extremely well in both games, too, with a combination of quick extra passes out to shooters and more patient processing to find cutters inside.
Quick shoutouts for NMH: 2026 point guard Olivia Fleming spent most of Friday in foul trouble, but we got to see glimpses of her court vision and tenacity grabbing rebounds. She was much more involved Saturday with 14 points, throwing dimes in transition and flashing her elite floater game.
Selah Prignano, Wilbraham and Monson
Class of 2026, 5-9 guard
Hometown: Newington, Conn.
Prignano scored 20 points in the Titans' big victory over Dexter. We got to see the well-rounded shotmaking she has steadily developed and blended with her natural explosiveness. She hit two corner 3s across Saturday and her 10-point outing on Friday. Prignano's form off the catch looks clean, and she's able to rise up and over defenders when she attempts pull-up shots. Prignano wasn't able to get out running much in Friday's loss, but she did more Saturday, and she proved why she's one of the more dangerous open-floor players in NEPSAC.
Caterina Ravosa, Wilbraham and Monson
Class of 2026, 6-2 forward
Hometown: East Longmeadow, Mass.
Friday and Saturday were night-and-day performances from one of the 2026 class's top talents. After Ravosa failed to impact the game consistently against NMH, she was much more intentional inside against Dexter. Titans coach Durelle Brown has said he wants Ravosa, already a prolific stretch forward, to be a more dominant interior scorer. All of Ravosa's made baskets Saturday came near the basket, part of her 11 points and 6 rebounds. Ravosa seemed to cut, roll, and establish positioning with better purpose, and the Titans did a better job of throwing her the ball inside for easy scores.
Quick shoutouts for WMA: Iyanna Hodge, a 5-1 2027 point guard, played pesky point-of-attack defense that proved critical to the Titans beating Dexter Southfield. ... I was intrigued by the minutes from 6-3 2028 forward Addison Brennan. She was an active rebounder and had a great high-low pass inside for a layup Friday, then hit a 3 for her first career points Saturday.
