There are numerous area girls’ basketball teams to keep an eye on this season, and many of them reside in the Northeast Conference.

Sisseton, which has finished third in back-to-back State A tournaments, suffered some major losses to graduation, but still has plenty of firepower remaining. Senior Krista Langager is one of the elite centers in the state, while Ruby Rice has been a key member of the squad for the past few seasons.

Hamlin, one year removed from winning the State A championship, will also be among the top teams in the state. The Chargers are led by all-state guard Addison Neuendorf, a starter on that state title squad, and also gained some key players who transferred from Arlington, including all-stater Addison Steffensen.

Milbank will be led by Isabella Anderson, who is headed to play at Division I Valparaiso next season. The Bulldogs also have some size and should be able to match up with most opponents throughout the season.

Groton also figures to be in the mix with a balanced team full of multi-sport athletes. The Tigers finished runner-up at the State A soccer tournament the past two seasons, and also advanced to the SoDak 16 volleyball round the last two years as well, and many of the girls who comprised those two units are also on the basketball squad.

Mobridge-Pollock will also be a dangerous Class A team. Like Groton, the other Tigers also fell in the SoDak 16 round of volleyball last month as well as in last year’s SoDak 16 in basketball. Mobridge-Pollock will feature size and athleticism led by the likes of Tegan Konold and Charley Henderson.

As was evident this past volleyball season, Miller also has a solid group of athletes to work with and should present a major challenge for basketball foes this season. The Rustlers will feature a balanced and deep attack.

Also in Class A, Great Plains Lutheran could also present issues for opponents this winter. GPL held its own in the first-ever meeting with Watertown last week, leading at the half before falling by just five points.

In Class B, look for Warner to once again be among the top squads in the area. The Monarchs, led by Stacia Carda, will once again be able to get up and down the floor. Warner, which played in last year’s state tournament and fell in the SoDak 16 two years ago, plays a tough schedule which should continue to pay dividends in the postseason.

Herreid-Selby Area should continue be among top B squads featuring a combination of size and quickness. Many of these athletes were part of teams that advanced to the SoDak 16 in volleyball for the past three seasons.

Ipswich is coming off a solid volleyball season and has a roster filled with multi-sport athletes. The Tigers will try to carry momentum gained from this past fall over to the basketball season this winter.

Individually, there probably won’t be many players as gifted as Wilmot’s Addison Heinje. Last year as a fresman, Heinje set a new school record by pouring in 50 points in a single game. Look for her to continue to put up big numbers again this season.

This year’s State A tournament will be in Spearfish, and the Class B state tourney will be in Huron.

(Note: A preview on Aberdeen Roncalli was posted recently, and previews on Aberdeen Central and Aberdeen Christian will be posted soon).