DEDHAM, Mass. — Last season was about as close to a rebuild year as you'll see with Nobles girls basketball.
The Bulldogs still ended the winter as our fifth-ranked team in NEPSAC. But they had to learn how to play without the core of stars from previous years of title-contending teams while also integrating several transfers. That culminated in a Class AAA quarterfinal exit against New Hampton.
Right now, the Bulldogs are hungry. They bring back three of five starters and most of the rotation. They added last year's MIAA Girls Player of the Year. Longtime head coach Alex Gallagher feels a renewed motivation throughout his roster.
"We're really excited about the growth in everybody's game," he said. "Our kids have really worked hard in the offseason. I think our season did not go like we wanted it to last year, and I think we came out of that season pretty determined, and I think you saw some of that grit at the NEPSAC (Scholastic) Showcase. I think we've got a lot of kids and coaches who feel like we have something to prove, and that we want to do everything we can to get back to playing Nobles basketball the way we pride ourselves on."
Can the Bulldogs return to the top of NEPSAC? Here's how they look entering the season.
MORE AAA PREVIEWS: Newman | Hoosac | Tabor | New Hampton | Tilton
State of the program
Nobles, like most of the AAA teams, is a legacy powerhouse in NEPSAC girls basketball. Per its website, the Bulldogs have captured 30 Independent School League titles and 10 NEPSAC championships. They won seven straight titles from 2012-2018 and then again in 2020.
Their back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024 included, in my opinion, the two best rosters in NEPSAC girls basketball history, with Division 1 college commits routinely extending down to the bench.
Nobles reached the first Class AAA championship game in 2025 but lost in the final second to Tilton.
The coach
Gallagher is on our Mount Rushmore as one of NEPSAC's greatest girls basketball coaches ever.
It's an inarguable case. Gallagher has won 10 NEPSAC championships and more than 520 games in 26 years leading the Bulldogs. He's guided the development of superstar players ranging from Ayla Brown in the mid-2000s, to Katie Benzan in the 2010s, to Caroline Ducharme at the turn of the last decade, to Grace Oliver, Jasmyn Cooper and more in recent years.
Gallagher graduated from Nobles in 1990 and returned in 2000. He's also the school's athletic director.
The star players
Nobles has three returning upperclassmen in command this season.
Alannah Morantus (North Attleboro, Mass.) sits second in our 2028 class prospect rankings and has reached Power Four territory with a few of her Division 1 offers. She's a 6-foot guard with a dangerous combination of size, power, and scoring craft.
Morantus looked more confident on the grassroots circuit with Mass Rivals and with Nobles at the Scholastic Showcase over the summer. She's missed time in the fall with an ankle injury but should be a full go for the start of the season. Morantus can get buckets at all three levels, but she's worked most recently on her efficiency to help prepare her for the eventual college level.
"I'm taking less shots, but getting more out of them. I feel like just shooting 100 shots — it's like, OK, I made 50 of them, but (I'm) getting that number down so that it's just a more efficient way of doing things with shot selection. I think that was a big thing, just because you only get a limited number of shots in college, especially as a freshman, so (I'm) just making sure when I do get those shots, I'm able to hit them."
Next to her in the backcourt is Aliyah Allston-Pujols (Randolph, Mass.), who has been a regular in Nobles lineups since her freshman year. Allston-Pujols, sixth in our 2028 rankings, has long been a standout defender and scorer around the basket, but says she's put in work to expand her game out to the perimeter.
"Definitely the shooting, I've worked on it a lot, and trying to be more confident just pulling up from the 3 (and) the mid-range, because I already know driving to the basket is one of the best things I can do skill-wise," she said. So yeah, definitely working with Vinny (Bui, Nobles assistant coach) a lot and getting up a lot of shots over the summer."
In the frontcourt, Nobles rolls out Brown commit Izzy Kittredge (Medfield, Mass.), a 6-foot-1 stretch forward who's No. 10 in our 2027 prospect rankings. Kittredge can fire 3s quickly and accurately off the catch, protect the rim and even beat opponents off the dribble on occasion.
The under-the-radar players
Nobles' 2029 class will fill out most of the rotation behind the stars. I think it's underrated across the board. I've hyped up Nahla Perkins (Needham, Mass.) as much as any underclassman in recent months, and the 6-foot forward looks ready to jump in as a shot-blocker and fast driving scorer. Anabel Brooks (Marlboro, Mass.) brings strength and physicality as a 5-foot-9 wing, and if she can knock down 3s consistently, that opens up a lot for her role.
Those two are members of our 2029 prospect watch list and have Division 1 offers already. Even beyond them, Nobles' 2029 group is strong.
Riley O'Donnell (Dedham, Mass.) is among the most reliable shooters on the team and Clea Lagakos (Boston, Mass.) was on fire behind the arc at the open gym I attended. Alanna Allston-Pujols (Randolph, Mass.), Aliyah's younger sister, has improved her strength and confidence as a backup point guard and can finish difficult shots around the basket.
Lastly in 2029, Leila Acevedo (Dedham, Mass.) surprised me at Nobles' open gym on Oct. 13. She might be the Bulldogs' best on-ball defender. Acevedo also has some craft with sharp crossovers and dribble-drives.
I'll throw out one more name: Cat O'Sullivan (Sudbury, Mass.), who joins Morantus, Kittredge and Aliyah Allston-Pujols as captains. O'Sullivan also stood out in the open gym for her effort rebounding, defending and cutting, and she's an important locker room presence on a deep team.
"I'm really excited to step into a leadership role because I feel like on the court sometimes, I might not be the person that gets all the stats in the book, but I feel like I do a good job with doing the little things that can impact the game," she said.
Top newcomers
You can't make a much larger splash locally beyond recruiting our MIAA Girls Player of the Year.
Naya Annigeri (Medfield, Mass.) won three state championships and three Tri-Valley League MVP awards in her three seasons at Medfield. Since reclassifying to 2028, she's picked up Division 1 offers from UNH, Marist and Bryant. At Nobles, she'll team back up with Kittredge after the two shared two of those Medfield titles.
"I'm actually so excited, because we kind of read each other's minds," Kittredge said. "I look at her in the backcourt and we already have chemistry."
Annigeri, a 5-foot-8 guard, will instantly be one of Nobles' lead facilitators, shooters and chaos-creators on defense.
"What I've been most impressed by with Naya: There's no ego there," Gallagher said. "She's arrived here ready to say, 'I'm going to do whatever the team needs me to do.' She was such a dominant force at Medfield, and I think, such a great leader and teammate in that program, in winning multiple state championships and things like that. And she's come here, and I've been impressed with her humility (and)Â the questions that she asks."
Don't overlook Annigeri's younger sister, Kameli, who transfers in as a reclassified 2030 guard. She earned an important rotation role as a Medfield freshman and is a strong catch-and-shoot perimeter player with similarly elite defensive instincts. Gallagher and the captains also mentioned Live Sancinito (Burlington, Mass.) as an incoming freshman to monitor.
Our expectations
I ranked Nobles as our way-too-early No. 1 team in NEPSAC during the summer. Though I still have a few contenders left to check out, the Bulldogs will likely start the winter atop our rankings.
This team has a combination of star power, depth and experience that few others can match. Morantus is a dark-horse Player of the Year candidate and opposing coaches have spoken highly about Annigeri as a transfer. The Bulldogs have game-changing defensive pieces with Acevedo, Annigeri, Allston-Pujols and Perkins. And Gallagher's coaching history speaks for itself.
Will Kittredge and Perkins, plus guards like Morantus, Allston-Pujols and Brooks, bring enough size and physicality to battle the stacked frontcourts in AAA? Can Nobles shoot the 3 consistently unlike last season? Those are the two biggest on-court question marks. I think they've addressed both and are thus my favorite to win it all.
