The high school girls basketball season recently started for area teams. Here are 10 teams, in alphabetical order, to look out for this season:

Birmingham: The Patriots come into this season looking for their third straight West Valley League title and third city title in five years. The team is a young group, led by sophomore Kayla Tanjiri, who was the West Valley League player of the year last year, averaging 13 points a game. The Patriots also have two talented freshmen in forward Jaydin-Lynn Walker and guard Belinda Hernandez-Santiago who will play significant roles. The team’s roster as a whole includes eight combined sophomores and freshmen.

Burroughs: Last year, Burroughs won its first Pacific League title since 2018 and also reached the semifinals of the Division 2A playoffs. The Bears are kicking off their season in Hawaii at the Girls Basketball Hawaii Invitational at Konawaena High School. The top returning players for Burroughs are seniors Valentina Morales and Elizabeth Amoroso, who were both first-team all-league last year. Another player to watch is talented sophomore guard Bella Amayakyan.

Granada Hills Charter: The Highlanders have two returning all-city players in senior guard Alyssa Badua and senior power forward Araceli Gonzalez. Badua averaged 9.6 points per game and Gonzalez averaged 10.8 points. Granada also has two standout sophomores in Alana Yeck and Isabella Valdivia, who coach Rai Colston believes will make big strides and help Granada compete for their first West Valley League title since 2022-23.

Harvard-Westlake: There’s a new face in charge at Harvard-Westlake as Will Burr has taken over as head coach. Burr has won four straight CIF-SS girls basketball titles, with three coming at Oak Park and one as coach of Viewpoint in 2022. The Wolverines have two returning all-league players in guard Hollen Vann and forward Oyinkansola Iriafen. Harvard-Westlake has a pair of freshmen watch in 6-foot-3 forward Lucia Khamenia and Valentina Collins. Valentina’s sister, Alessandra, is a junior center and also a standout player on the team. Their father is former NBA and Harvard-Westlake player Jarron Collins.

Notre Dame: Notre Dame is led by a pair of talented sophomores in Hamiley Arenas and MaZiya Randolph. Arenas was first-team all Mission League and CIF last season and averaged 23 points and 10.5 assists a game. Notre Dame also added a pair of junior transfers in wing Mila Spencer from Fairfax and center Ava Seeger from Thousand Oaks. Spencer averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds a game last year at Fairfax.

Oak Park: Oak Park comes into this season having won three straight CIF-SS championships and three straight Coastal Canyon League titles. Oak Park hired former WNBA player and assistant coach April Schilling to be their head coach after former coach Will Burr was hired by Harvard-Westlake. UCSB commit Karissa Lewis transferred in from Buena, Lewis averaged 23 points and six rebounds a game last season. Oak Park returns juniors Maya Deshautelle and Ava Roberson. Oak Park also added a pair of transfers who will be eligible after the sit-out period in Moorpark transfer Maya Urteaga and Arroyo Grande transfer Diana Sorrondo. Urteaga averaged 26 points a game as a freshman last year for Moorpark. Sorrondo is 6-foot-4 and will provide a big defensive presence for Oak Park. She is committed to Southern Utah. Oak Park also has Kenyon commit Joely Chadwick returning and a newcomer in freshman guard Marley Berkoh, who already has an offer from UCSB.

Saugus: Saugus finished third in the Foothill League last season behind Hart and Valencia and has an experienced team this year that has seven seniors and five of them have been on varsity since they were freshmen. The leader for the Centurions will be senior wing Jasmine Garcia, who coach Anthony Falasca said has “NBA range.” Two other talented returning players for Saugus are senior point guard EvaMarie Rios and junior forward Rachael Correa. Rios averaged 13 points a game last season and Correa averaged a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds a game.

Sierra Canyon: The Trailblazers are the top team in the area and will once again be in contention for the CIF-SS and state open division titles. Sierra Canyon is led by reigning Daily News player of the year Jerzy Robinson and 6-foot-5 Oregon commit Emilia Krstevski. Robinson averaged 26.8 points and 10.4 rebounds a game last year and is ranked as the number three recruit in the 2026 class by 247sports. Another talented returning player for the Trailblazers is Pacific commit and two-time first-team all-league player Payton Montgomery, who averaged 10 points and six rebounds a game last year. All CIF-SS guard Delaney White transferred to Sierra Canyon from Oak Park and it has not been determined yet when she will be eligible. Sierra Canyon has still not lost a Mission League game since joining in the 2022-23 season and will look to win its fourth straight Mission League title this season. The Trailblazers’ season starts on November 21 at Sierra Pacific in Central California.

Valencia: The Valencia girls basketball team won its first league title in four years last year, sharing the Foothill League title with Hart. The two leading players for the Vikings are senior wing Cara McKell and sophomore guard Kamilla Basyrova. McKell was Foothill League Co-Player of the Year last year and averaged 18.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Basyrova was first-team all-Foothill League last year and averaged 19.4 points a game. Basyrova also broke Valencia’s single-game scoring record last season when she scored 40 points in a game. Valencia coach Jared Honig has high expectations for this group and the Vikings look like one of the Foothill League favorites this year.

Village Christian: Village Christian comes into this season looking to win its fifth straight Olympic League title. The Crusaders have a talented newcomer in freshman guard Keani Asamura-Hall, who scored 13 points in the season-opening win over Alemany this week. Two talented returning players for Village Christian are sophomore 6-foot-3 center Jolie Ambartsumyan and junior guard Sophia Santos. Ambartsumyan averaged 7 points and 7.9 rebounds a game as a freshman. Sandrina Panaligan is another solid returning player for the Crusaders and she averaged 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds a game last year.

Others to watch: Campbell Hall, Chaminade, Hart, Oaks Christian, Thousand Oaks.