The postseason is upon us. After just over two months of consecutive basketball, it’s time for the top dogs to prove their worth.
Westerly, Barrington and Ponaganset are the top three teams heading into the playoffs according to RIIL’s RPI calculations. Undefeated Lincoln School leads Division II and Exeter-West Greenwich is at the top of Division III.
The expectation is that the aforementioned top three will compete for the D-I and state titles, but it’s hard to pick a true favorite as Westerly, Ponaganset and Barrington have only lost one, one and two games, respectively. Now is each team’s chance to make the necessary step to win silverware.
Edition five, at the conclusion of the 2025-26 regular season, of the Rhode Island girls’ high school basketball rankings.
1. Westerly (20-1)
Previous rank: 1
Next game: vs. Chariho/South Kingstown, Feb. 24, 6 p.m.
The Bulldogs picked up the No. 1 overall seed heading into the Division I tournament. They’re slated to play the winner of Chariho and South Kingstown. They’ll feel very good either way, as they beat Chariho 70-26 and 67-23 across their two matchups and had a similar 74-43 result against South Kingstown. Ella Reyes finished the season strong with a team-leading 14 points to defeat North Kingstown and Fitch in each of the last two games of the regular season. Reyes completed her regular season at 18.7 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. Mary Antoch finished with 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Santanaa Hamelin was as well-rounded as it gets, leading the team with 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.7 rebounds to go with her 7.7 points per game.
2. Ponaganset (21-1)
Previous rank: 2
Next game: vs. West Warwick, Feb. 20, 6 p.m.
The Chieftains lost just once, and that was enough to send them all the way down to the No. 3 spot in the RPI, forcing them to miss out on the bye. As a result, they’ll have to play West Warwick in the first round. That shouldn’t be a problem, though, as they handled them 55-30 in their previous matchup. It’ll be up to Marron Nerney, Maci LaFontaine and company to lead Ponaganset to a second consecutive state title. But first, they’re focused on re-proving themselves in the Division I bracket.
3. Barrington (20-2)
Previous rank: 3
Next game: vs. Moses Brown/St. Raphael Academy, Feb. 23, 6 p.m.
For the Eagles, they’re set to play either Moses Brown or St. Ray’s in the first round after securing the No. 2 seed and the bye. Moses Brown wouldn’t be the easiest draw after earning a bye, but they’ve really struggled as of late and have fallen down the standings. In the regular season, Barrington was victorious by a score of 48-36. The Eagles finished the season strong on four consecutive victories. Genesis Castro led the scoring on the season with 16 points per game, and Ella Martin trailed closest behind, averaging 12 points. Faith Van Ness and Keira Martin were next in line in scoring and will be crucial in the postseason. They’re going to need players one through five.
4. Lincoln School (18-0)
Previous rank: 4
Next game: vs. East Greenwich/Narragansett, Feb. 24, 4:30 p.m.
The Lynx completed an undefeated 18-0 season, becoming the only team statewide to not lose a single game in 2025-26. They’ll face either East Greenwich or Narragansett in the playoffs after enjoying their bye. They somehow did not play either team throughout their Division II schedule, so it’ll be a new test regardless. Reign Whiteing and Sarah Berube were dominant all year long. Whiteing finished at 18.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest, both team-highs. Berube was within a point at 17.3 points and 4.1 assists per game. Aubrey Watkins 12.3 points and Aliviah Harris 10.8 points also sit in double figures.
5. North Kingstown (17-4)
Previous rank: 5
Next game: vs. Pawtucket, Feb. 20, 6 p.m.
The Skippers will be playing the Pawtucket co-op in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 4 seed in Division I. They just played them a few weeks ago and were victorious in blowout 65-34 fashion. After losing to top-ranked Westerly in the penultimate game of the year, they finished things strong with a win over Classical. The loss against Westerly broke a 10-game winning streak, but they’re looking to start it anew with Brooke Faunce and her crew.
6. Portsmouth (14-4)
Previous rank: 6
Next game: vs. Classical, Feb. 20, 5 p.m.
The Patriots closed the season out with six straight wins after losing to Ponaganset. In the playoffs, it’ll be a test against Classical in the first round. Just a couple of weeks ago, they downed their upcoming opponent 61-42. At the start of the season, it was a lower scoring 47-31 triumph. On their current streak, they’ve scored extremely consistently, putting up between 53 and 61 points in all six contests. Leading the way is junior Gyselle Mairs, who averaged 14 points per game. She’s followed by sophomore Violet Silvia averaging 11 points.
7. Cranston West (12-8)
Previous rank: 7
Next game: vs. La Salle, Feb. 20, 6 p.m.
The Falcons haven’t recorded any bad losses en route to their 12-8 record, which looks worse than it is. All eight of those losses have come against teams ahead of them in the rankings, most recently falling 59-46 to Ponaganset. They followed that up with two good wins against Tolman (77-41) and Juanita Sanchez (59-14) to finish things off. They’ll face off with La Salle in the first round, a team they beat 48-32 in the second game of the year. They’ve had balanced scoring all year long, with Kyla Buco’s 10.8 points per game being the only scorer in double-digits. Talya Walker (7.2), Madeleine Marques (6.8), Maggie Sjovall (5.8) and Saniyya Chase (5.4) all provide additional scoring.
8. Exeter-West Greenwich (18-1)
Previous rank: 9
Next game: vs. CFBVP/Woonsocket, Feb. 23, 12 p.m.
The Scarlet Knights seem to be cruising to the Division III title, and there isn’t a whole lot in their way. The lone loss remains from D-I’s West Warwick. In their first playoff game, they’ll either play the Central Falls/Blackstone Valley co-op or Woonsocket. They likely don’t want to see CFBVP again after barely edging them out 30-26 in the regular season. They dealt with Woonsocket more handily at 62-38. Kate Hebert led the team with 15.9 points per game in 2025-26. Nini Olawuyi added 9.6 points and a team-leading 9.3 rebounds.
9. Tiverton (15-7)
Previous Rank: 10
Next game: vs. Lincoln/Scituate, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.
Either Lincoln or Scituate await the Tigers in the playoffs. The first Lincoln matchup was a 51-35 victory and they beat Scituate 66-48, so there shouldn’t be much of an issue regardless. They finished the season No. 2 in RPI in Division II, behind only Lincoln School. They won three straight games to close the year after losing to Durfee (Mass.) for the second time this season. Junior Camille Oliveira scored 15.8 points per game. Senior center Jah’niece Branch put up 10.6 points and led the glass with 5.8 rebounds Junior Sarah Poland also scored 9.1 points per game in the regular season.
10. Moses Brown (12-9)
Previous rank: 8
Next game: vs. St. Raphael Academy, Feb. 20, 5 p.m.
The Quakers have struggled as of late. That can directly be tied to the elbow injury of reigning Gatorade Player of the Year Lauren Bousquet. She returned to action on Feb. 3 against North Kingstown, but her 27 points in that one weren’t enough to put up a fight. Three days later, she dropped 28 points to achieve the 2,000 career points milestone, but they lost that game too. Now her status is in question for the postseason.
With Bousquet being one of, if not the best, players in the state, Moses Brown will still be a threat if she’s active. In the first round, the Quakers will face off with St. Raphael Academy, a matchup they just lost 41-34 in the final game of the year. Bousquet finished her regular season with 26.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Marielle Nassiff averaged 18.2 points and freshman center Winn Stanley blocked 4.4 shots per game.
