Big North’s Big Contributors

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're a few games into the start of the 2024-25 high school girls basketball season in New Jersey with plenty of action and excitement already taking place. That means plenty of great performances and players to watch, which we've gotten the opportunity to highlight a number of those prospects below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Amerlia Guardascione - Lakeland (2026)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lakeland is off to a hot start, one of the best teams in the whole of the Big North thanks to a balanced attack so far. Guardascione is the outlier to the equation in a great way, averaging around 15 points a game offensively with impressive peripherals and great defensive poise. Right now, she's easily one of the best defensive players we've seen across the league.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='600893' first='Alexis' last='Chambers'] - Paterson Eastside (2026)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are a few players to look out for on Paterson Eastside this season, beginning with senior Naveah Banks, who is on pace to potentially set some new scoring records for her, but alongside her down low is [player_tooltip player_id='600893' first='Alexis' last='Chambers'], a near double-double candidate every night. She's shown her versatility in the paint for the Ghosts, consistently grabbing rebounds, getting steals and causing havoc in the post.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Angie Tirado - Demarest (2025)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Demarest is off to a perfect start on the season and one Angie Tirado is a big reason for their overall success. Plenty of balance at the top for the Vikings, but the senior has shined across the board, a strong defensive player with an insane knack for scoring in any way possible. This is no new concept for her, but being able to build off her strong junior campaign will be key this winter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='981887' first='Giovanna' last='Burress'] - DePaul (2028)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our first freshman mention in this article, Burress has very quickly emerged onto the scene for DePaul as its go-to offensive juggernaut. She's one of several freshman making immediate strides and impact for the Spartans in the early going, a near 20-point scorer out of the gates hauling in eight rebounds a game. Quite the freshman season we're going to be seeing out of her.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='677735' first='Harper' last='Cohn'] - Mahwah (2027)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There's certainly plenty of upside for Mahway for the remainder of this season. Look no further than what [player_tooltip player_id='677735' first='Harper' last='Cohn'] has been able to do over that span, averaging nearly 13 points and more than five rebounds a game. At this point, she understands the flow of the high school game and plays at that pace and then some. Experience is to her advantage, making her a prime all-conference candidate this winter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='600903' first='Grace' last='McGuire'] - Paramus Catholic (2026)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming into this season, McGuire had averaged just under five points a game over her first two seasons for Paramus Catholic. That's changed significantly as a junior as she's become a leading contributor for the Paladins, averaging 11.6 points a game early on. That includes three double-digit scoring efforts, a strong showing for someone in the midst of a breakout season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='525310' first='Laurel' last='Space'] - West Milford (2025)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It seems that everything has been leading up to this season for [player_tooltip player_id='525310' first='Laurel' last='Space'], the key forward for West Milford. She's getting her chance to show up and show out for this team and right now, it's paying off in a big way. Early on, she's putting up near double-double averages while scoring 12 points a game, staying calm, cool and collected on the floor. Very impressive start to her senior campaign.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='414410' first='Juliet' last='Schwartz'] - Tenafly (2025)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It seems that there's always someone in the wings to have a big season for Tenafly as following the departure of Rylie Theuerkauf, [player_tooltip player_id='414410' first='Juliet' last='Schwartz'] has emerged as a Player of the Year candidate for the Big North. Right now, she's comfortably scoring 20 points a game, knocking down 3 three-pointers a game and pushing to finish with a double-double average as a senior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->