Season Preview: 5A/4A Northern League

Genevieve Gudino

Ryan Wesley

December 15, 2020 @ 06:15 PM

With the 2020-21 girls basketball season now scheduled to begin in January, we’re taking a look back/forward at how things went last year and what to look forward to in each of Colorado’s conferences. Many of the leagues are different, and the shortened season certainly will present its own unique challenges. Still, we’re no less excited to see what Colorado’s many talented players have to offer in the spring. Here’s a snapshot of the 5A/4A Northern League.   How it all shook out in ‘19-20 Like a few other leagues in the state, the Northern League will look very different this coming up season. Thompson Valley, last season’s Nothern League champs (14-0), will be with the new Longs Peak League, which leaves second-place Greely Central (10-4) as the returning league leaders. With the 5A/4A Tri-Valley Leauge’s dismantlement, the Northern League will be adding some serious power to its conference. Two of the three teams to split the Tri-Valley title, Erie and Holy Family, will be joining the league.   Teams -- Centaurus, Erie, Greeley Central, Greeley West, Holy Family, Longmont, Mead, Silver Creek, Skyline, and Windsor.   Which playoff team advanced the furthest? Six out of the 10 teams currently in this league made the playoffs last season. Centaurus, Greely Central, Longmont, and Mead all fell in the second round, while Erie’s season ended in the quarterfinals. Holy Family, however, managed to make it all the way to the state championship game against Mullen but were unable to play the final due to its cancelation because of Covid-19.   A few returning players to watch [player_tooltip player_id="116779" first="Alyssa" last="Wells"] - 2021 Guard - Holy Family Unfortunately, Wells’ fantastic season came to an abrupt end before she and her fellow Tigers had the opportunity to fight for a state title. Her 101 total assists were the second-most in the league, while her 93 steals put her at fourth. Wells finished her junior season with an average of 12.7 points, 37 assists, 3.4 steals, and 2.4 rebounds per game. [player_tooltip player_id="117710" first="Grace" last="Moyers"] - 2022 Guard - Erie Moyers was nothing less than electric during her sophomore season. She finished third in the Tri-Valley league in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. Moyers’ total of 68 made three-pointers put her as the league leader in three’s and tied her for fourth in the state. Moyers also finished with an average of 2.9 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.7 rebounds per game. [caption id="attachment_199114" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-199114" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Laura-Gensert-Centaurus2-300x283.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="283" /> [player_tooltip player_id="118724" first="Laura" last="Gensert"][/caption][player_tooltip player_id="118724" first="Laura" last="Gensert"] - 2023 Guard - Centaurus Gensert led the Northern League in scoring last year, finishing with an average of 13.9 points per game and a total of 47 made three-pointers, second-most in the league. She was an absolute standout during her freshman season, which helped her team reach the second round of the playoffs. In addition to her scoring average, Gensert also finished with an average of 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. [player_tooltip player_id="207134" first="Alexis" last="Tapia"] - 2022 Forward - Greeley Central Tapia finished her sophomore season with an average of 12.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. In addition to finishing fourth in the Northern League in scoring, Tapia also ended with a league-high of 78 total free-throws made. Her outstanding skillset as a post player did not go unnoticed, making Tapia a player to keep an eye on this year. [player_tooltip player_id="116799" first="Kylie" last="Sanger"] - 2021 Guard - Windsor Sanger led her team in scoring with 13.5 points per game and will be one of the four returning top-five scorers for the team. In addition to her scoring average, Sanger completed her third year on varsity with a stat line of 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. The Wizards are returning a lot of young players who will be led by Sanger, Windsor’s highly touted veteran player. [player_tooltip player_id="95135" first="Genevieve" last="Gudino"] - 2021 Guard - Erie Gudino is one of the more well-rounded players in the state. She finished fourth in the Tri-Valley league in scoring, second on the team behind Moyers, with an average of 14.2 points a game. Gudino also finished top five in the league in assists (84) and steals (85)last season. In addition to her scoring average, Gudino finished with a stat line of 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 steals, and 3.2 assists per game.   Some other names to know [caption id="attachment_193822" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-193822" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/08/Jacklyn-Stephenson-Mead-300x229.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="229" /> Jacklyn Stephenson[/caption] [player_tooltip player_id="145397" first="Tyler" last="Whitlock"] - Holy Family [player_tooltip player_id="116819" first="Anna" last="Hefner"] - Erie [player_tooltip player_id="203430" first="Micaela" last="Hidalgo"] - Greeley Central [player_tooltip player_id="116814" first="Julia" last="Mischke"] - Centaurus Jacklyn Stephenson - Mead [player_tooltip player_id="118722" first="Christine" last="D’Epagnier"] - Longmont [player_tooltip player_id="95138" first="Cecilia" last="Aanerud"] - Holy Family [player_tooltip player_id="95176" first="Deb" last="Altshuler"] - Erie Maddox Boston - Mead A quick, early look to the spring With the restructuring of the Northern League, this season is expected to be an adamant one for these teams. Holy Family’s run that ended with them reaching the 4A state final game does not guarantee them a repeated performance this year. Erie was a 4A juggernaut last year who will be entering this season with a new head coach. For each of these teams, a narrative can be found for why this year can potentially be just as successful as, if not more than, their previous season.