Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • H.D. Woodson is the class of the league and returns all but one player from a team that has won two straight DCIAA titles. Pinkett and Ransford combined to average 28 points last season.
• Roosevelt will be without Smith (25.1 ppg) for the first two weeks, as she recovers from a leg injury.
• Woodson and Roosevelt, after canceling their scheduled regular season meetings each of the past two seasons, decided not to schedule one another this year.
• Though Woodson and Roosevelt have combined to win the past five DCIAA titles, Anacostia has threatened to sneak in. The Indians Anacostia's top two scorers, Naylor and senior Bianca White, are back. Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • Arundel has one of the tallest teams in the state, with five players 6 feet or taller and another 5$11. The Wildcats also have the county's most dynamic guard in Davis (15.3 ppg).
• Southern came within a whisker of the 2A title last year (they led by nine late in the final), and with Schneck twins Heather and Kim (25 ppg combined) each looking to go over the career 1,000-point mark, the Bulldogs have a strong chance at a repeat berth in the title game.
• Old Mill's top two scorers graduated, but the Patriots have speed at guard and will rattle teams with their up-tempo offense. Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • Atholton, which moved up to 3A this season, has four starters back from the team that won the 2A state title, including seniors Brittany Coughlan (14 ppg) and Elie Snyder (12 ppg).
• Oakland Mills has the county's top player in Loyola-bound McKenzie, (21 ppg, 13 rpg), and with sophomores Nicole Hill and Monet Nias adding scoring punch, the Scorpions should contend for a league title.
• River Hill's Collier averages double digits and has a good shooter in backcourt mate Meg Sims.
• Senior F Deanna Dydynksi will anchor another strong Mount Hebron squad (20-4). Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • Walkersville has two starters back -- Hildebrand and senior point guard Sabrina Sparkman, who led the conference in assists -- from a team that went undefeated in the regular season. In addition to McCarrick and Oursler, Middletown has senior starters Kelsey House, a 5-8 guard, and Kristen Bauk, a 5-8 forward, back.
• Thomas Johnson, 17-6 a year ago, graduated all five of its starters.
• Urbana junior transfer Chardea Harris averaged 19 points per game last season for Bishop Walsh in Cumberland, Md.
• Catoctin, 11-14 last season, should get a boost from the return of senior guard Brittany Chmelik, who missed last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • Blake, a 4A finalist last season, returns three starters, including sophomore sharpshooter Christine Weithman.
• Senior guard Becca Feldman and junior center Chelsea Craig form the inside-outside combo for Wootton, last year's 4A West regular season champs.
• Chili needs 166 points to break Walter Johnson's all-time scoring record (1,602) held by Alex Porter.
• Springbrook Coach Oliver Riggs, who led his team to the region final last season, had double-bypass surgery this past month. Kearney Francis has taken over as interim coach until Riggs can return.
• Brown is the only returning starter for Whitman (19-6), a state semifinalist last season. Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • Gwynn Park returns four starters and adds Lynnae Lampkins, a 5-7 Syracuse-bound guard who missed last season with a knee injury.
• Eleanor Roosevelt, three-time defending state champions and the No. 19 team in ESPN's preseason national rankings, has a pair of standout juniors, Olivia Applewhite and Elashier Hall, to go along with Wilson.
• Northwestern junior Ashley Brown, a transfer from Theodore Roosevelt, once scored 52 points in a game as a freshman at M.M. Washington.
• C.H. Flowers returns a pair of strong guards -- Terran Quattlebaum (12 points per game last season) and Imani Lawson (9 ppg) -- to compliment Bryant.
• Bladensburg (17-6) brings back a strong frontcourt that includes center Kiara Henderson, a 6-3 senior who has signed with Loyola, and forward Vanika Proctor, a 5-10 junior. Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • Lackey's returning trio of Brittani Brown, Simone Williams and MarQuesha Moore has a good chance of leading the Chargers to their first SMAC title since 1978.
• North Point could make some noise in the conference in just its first season playing a varsity schedule, as a very strong junior varsity team transitions to varsity.
• Reigning SMAC champ Great Mills has four solid contributors back. Top Teams Top Players Fast Break • With four players who signed Division I scholarships last month, Notre Dame is widely regarded as one the nation's top five teams, and the Dragons play a schedule that might leave no doubt they are the best.
• Holy Cross, coming off its first City Title, graduated its top three scorers but brings back senior guard Shontice Simmons.
• If Bishop McNamara is going to win its first WCAC title since 2003, senior guard Tiana Myers (George Washington) will play a big role.
• Riverdale Baptist has a terrific young frontline with junior Tianna Hawkins, her younger sister, sophomore Tierra, and sophomore Ataira Franklin.
• Top players at small schools have signed with big-time college programs, including Broomfield (North Carolina) and Mashore (Stanford).