When any new season begins, we all have questions. Is it about a player, a team, a conference, a rivalry, a coach? So many questions to unfold.
The peak of those, to Bounce, is looking at teams that have something to prove. Overachieve last season? Fall short when you shouldn’t have? Need to maximize a roster that is senior laden in 2025-2026? Coaching change? There are so many reasons to seem like you have something you need to prove.
So here are five of those teams as Bounce sees them going into the new girls basketball season.
FAIRFIELD
An 18-win season is never a let down and Fairfield has to feel pretty good going into this new season. So if they have won 40 games in the past two years, what do they need to prove? Well the hill that is their rivalry with Eastside is a big one to climb. The Blazers won by 9 and 14 in their two meetings with Fairfield; the Falcons lost just two other times in the area last season and one was an upset. Right now, Fairfield is right on the edge of being an elite team in the area and best of the best in the NECC. They have to prove that they can drive through that wall of Eastside, but also that they can avoid upsets like a late season loss to Westview that slowed some momentum going into the postseason.
EAST NOBLE
Despite 16 wins a season ago, the Knights found themselves sixth in the NE8. We all know that this is a conference where you can’t blink because every team is sharp, hence why the Knights fell to 6th despite having one of the best rosters in the conference. The majority of that depth is back and it means if East Noble wants to hit another level, this year is important. They did push through late winning 6 of their last eight and capturing a maybe earlier than expected Sectional crown, but that also pushes this narrative: East Noble needs to double down and prove the are Sectional champ caliber by getting another one in 2026.
ANGOLA
A new coach from outside of the Angola world means a bit of a reset for the Hornets. New coach Caela Walker comes from Edon (OH) High School and is also a former D1 player at Weber State. What Walker is going to do with this program is still a mystery but an intriguing one because Angola is not a bare cupboard needing to be rebuilt. This is a place with good recent success and good base to work with. If Walker’s style meshes quickly, the Hornets could be in the conversation in the NECC very quickly and that is intriguing.
GARRETT
Like above, a new coach could help reinvigorate a program that doesn’t have a bare cupboard. New coach Wade Hantz actually comes over from the aforementioned Angola program and enters his first season with two of the conference’s best returners in Sarah DePew and rising star Emma Coffman. The Railroaders are looking to rebuild an identity as a team who competes at the top of the NECC. In ways, they mirror Angola in having a new coach but established players that could make the transition that much easier, which makes them one to really watch this season.
SOUTH SIDE
The Archers have not been on the high end of the SAC since they were contending for the title with Homestead year after year. But there is some light for the team that won just four games last season. And it starts with a flag football season, believe it or not as BriTanya Diedrich-Williams has the ability to quarterback the Archers on the court as well as she has on the field. This is a fairly young team and it is something coach Juanita Goodwell has needed for a while, a young, athletic, talented and moldable group. Does South make a major jump this season? We will see, but they certainly are in a good place to add some pressure.
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