With basketball season getting underway, hopes are high for the girl’s programs in southern Denton County, as every area program looks to build on last year’s success and most have a legitimate shot at the postseason in 2026.
The region produced four playoff programs in 2025 with multiple teams going several rounds, and a few other teams right on the cusp of a playoff berth.
For the Argyle girls basketball team, a 32-6 overall record in the spring earned the Lady Eagles a Co-District championship and eventual trip to the regional finals.
Returning starters include Wrigley Green, Landry Murphy and Kensley Vest. Players to watch include Lexi Ehrhardt and Blair Mosley.
Coach Chance Westmoreland said he is expecting some additional younger help as well.
“We will get a huge lift from our undefeated JV team (Emma King, Allie King, Aoife Journagan, Mallory Kuykendall, Addy Simms),” Westmoreland said.
The Argyle coach said things are shaping up well for 2025-26.
“I’m very excited about this season,” Westmoreland said. “We should be one of the top teams in the state and region. We have a great nucleus of returning players with talented newcomers. Our preseason schedule should have us battle-tested for district and the playoffs.”
For Liberty Christian, first-year head coach Kevin Baker will take over a team that finished 5-1 in district competition last season and advanced to the state semifinals.
Baker was head coach at UTEP for six years and retired in 2023.
“Our team is very young and it will most likely take us a couple years to be competitive again,” Baker said. “But we are enjoying the rebuild.”
The Lady Warriors return starter Emme Egger, and players to watch include Bailey Kimberlin, Macey Hall and Sabrina Doyle.
Up in Denton, the Guyer girls went 31-5 last season and finished second in district 5-6A competition.
In his fourth season as head coach, Jake Floyd returns four starters from last year’s squad and said he is confident in his team heading in.
“We should be in the race for the district title,” Floyd said.
The Lady Wildcats finished 12-2 in district competition last season and strong returning players include Madison McGhie, Peyton Underwood, Baylee Bowman and Audrey Mitchell.
Guyer reached the postseason and advanced three rounds in 2024-25.
In Flower Mound, the Lady Jaguars finished 31-5 last season with a 10-4 mark in district competition and reached the regional semifinals.
Coach Sherika Nelson said things are looking good early on and said she expects good things this year.
“We have had a great preseason and have been working on the little details of our offense and defense,” Nelson said. “Looking forward to pushing the ball in transition this season and letting our defense create offense. We have a great group of girls that work hard and compete every day.”
Flower Mound finished third in district in 2024-25 and return the District MVP in Maci Pringle.
Other players to watch for the Lady Jags include Lorelei Ebert and Brooklyn Gray, both of which along with Pringle are returning starters from last year’s team.
Nelson, who is entering her 19th season as Lady Jags head coach, said she believes her team will compete for a playoff spot again.
“We are looking to build off the success of last year’s playoff run. We are still young in a lot of areas but the experience of playing in a tough district and the playoff run last year will hopefully give our young team confidence to battle it out in this tough district.”
Across town at Marcus, the Lady Marauders found themselves in a three-way tie for fourth place at the end of the regular season and lost in a tie-breaker.
Marcus went 15-16 overall last season with a 6-8 mark in district competition.
Coach Mallory Singleton-Lynn said things are shaping up well early on.
“We’ve had a great start to the year,” Singleton-Lynn said. “Our returning players have done a great job building on the foundation we established last season, and it’s been exciting to see how much we’ve grown. The team has really embraced the challenge of taking things to the next level, and the energy, chemistry, and competitiveness in the gym have all been outstanding.”
Singleton-Lynn is looking to returning starters Sloane Miller, Jaeda Ramnanan, Lauren Smith and Lilah Mauck to lead the way this season.
Singleton-Lynn, a pupil of Sherika Nelson who actually played for her at Flower Mound, is in her fourth season at the helm for the Lady Marauders and said she is excited about her teams’ chances in 2025-26.
“We were really close last year, and that’s given our team a lot of motivation heading into this season,” Singleton-Lynn said. “We believe we have the pieces to compete and our focus is to compete every day to earn the opportunity to extend our season.”
The Coram Deo girls finished 25-10 last season, but a 6-8 mark in district competition left them one spot short of a playoff berth.
Jackie Manack enters her fifth season as coach and is confident based on what she has seen from her team so far.
“We have a solid senior class who have set a good tone in Selah Johnson, Kennedy Thomas, Channing Crafton and Lainey Jaetzold,” Manack said. “After our junior Emily (Revering), we will be adding in four freshman so we will have a lot more teaching from our upperclassman this year. It’s going to be a great season and we are looking forward to it.”
Players to watch for the Lady Lions include freshman Hadley Manack and Emerson Skelly. Returning starters include Johnson and Revering.
Over in Justin, Northwest finished 11-23 overall last season and is looking to rebound from a 2-14 mark in district.
Coach Lindsey Pouncey said her team has shown major improvement from last year and said she is optimistic about Northwest’s chances.
“Our girls have been working incredibly hard since the end of last season,” Pouncey said. “They’re a tight-knit, special team, and we’re excited to see how far their effort, chemistry, and belief in one another can take us this year.”
Returning Starters include Attalia Farris, Amelia Reed, Dana Ramoni and McKenzie Covington. Another player to watch this season is Freshman Ryleigh Dryer.
Pouncey is in her fourth season at Northwest and said to compete for a postseason berth this coming season, it will take a couple of things.
“With the way this group competes, I’ll never count us out,” Pouncey said. “They’ve shown they can rise to any occasion. Along the way, our focus is on mastering the small things: being consistent, controlling the controllables, and playing with discipline and heart every day.
“If we can stay locked in on that process, we’ll give ourselves an opportunity to be where we want to be at the end of the season.”
