High school girls basketball watch list

A 5-foot-10 forward who can score in the paint and hit the perimeter shot. She’ll be a matchup problem for teams this year. Don’t foul her. She won’t miss (84 percent from the line).

Her sophomore year saw her average 19.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.6 steals. She makes everyone around her better.

She went down with a season-ending knee injury last year and the Bombers still advanced to the regional level. She’s a big difference-maker in the paint.

Perhaps the premier defender in the area. If she’s guarding you, that means the Bombers think you’re a scoring threat.

She got valuable starting experience last year as a sophomore. This year she’ll be in more of a leadership role. Williams Tournament at Andrews Osborne over the weekend. Guard/forward Destiny Leo got off to an amazing (but not surprising) start to her season by scoring 37, 34 and 28 points in the Rangers’ first three games of the season. • A few area teams are already reportedly down a player because of knee injuries. Brush’s Jenna Perry, Chardon’s Halle Landies and Kenston’s Marcie Oglesbee — all top-notch players on their respective teams — are on the shelf with knee ailments. • Kirtland returns seven of its top eight players from a team that went 23-1 overall and 14-0 in the CVC Valley. But that one graduation — Sydney Snyder — was a big one. Look for returning starters Jenna Sayle, Lauren Lutz and Lauren Snyder to lead the charge. Sydney Snyder, a do-it-all guard/ forward, will be missed, but the Hornets will be just fine. • There are a few new faces on the sidelines this year, though not all are “new.” Bob Beutel is at West Geauga, but has a vast coaching resume at North and Gilmour. James Hrusovsky is at Mentor this year, but he was the interim coach last year for Steve Thompson. Now it’s his show to run. Other new coaches are: James Bosley (Berkshire), Mike Hassett (Geneva), Jerimie Acree (Harvey), Michael Pecjak (Lake Catholic) and Roy Infalvi Jr. (Perry). • Andrews Osborne continues to be a United Nations of players. The Phoenix feature players from four countries — the United States, Ukraine (2), Spain (2) and Germany (1). • Camille Cummins, a senior at Cardinal, set a new program record with 25 rebounds (15 offensive) against Lakeside. The former record was set in 1991 by Leslie Baker. If Cummins averages 15 rebounds per game this year, she will be on par to break the school record for career rebounds, held by her mother Lindsay (Frank) Cummins. • With her team’s earlyseason win over Gilmour, Cornerstone coach Lisa Stopp hit the 100-win mark for her career. Heading into this week’s games, Stopp has a career record of 10145. • In the Division I postseason later in the season, most of the area teams are assigned the Perry sectional-district, including Brush, Chardon, Euclid, Madison, Mayfield, Mentor, North, Riverside and South. After winning the Perry District last year, Kenston has been moved to the Ravenna District. • In the Division II postseason, Geneva, Gilmour, Harvey, Hawken, Lake Catholic, NDCL, Perry, VASJ and West Geauga are all in the Lakeside sectional-district. Chagrin Falls will head to the Nordonia sectionaldistrict. • In the Division III tournaments, Beachwood, Kirtland and Wickliffe will play in the North Ridgeville sectional-district, while Berkshire and Cardinal will be in the Cortland Lakeview tourney. • The Division IV participants will all be at the Grand Valley sectionaldistrict, including Andrews, Cornerstone, Fairport, Newbury and Richmond Heights.