Division I girls basketball preview

The Division I girls basketball season gets underway on Friday. Here’s a look at how the division could shake out.

Favorites

• Bishop Guertin (21-1 last season): While the Cardinals lost a couple of seniors – including point guard Marie Laplante – they return a huge part of the team that won last year’s championship. Bishop Guertin has eight seniors in the mix, including Meghan Cramb, Abbi Field and Molly Dee, who, along with junior Caroline Hoffer, were starters a season ago. The Cardinals also bumped up the competition in their schedule, adding regular-season games against La Salle Academy, from Providence, and Norwich (Conn.) Free Academy.
• Bedford (18-4): The Bulldogs lost three of their top players from a year ago, with Bri Purcell, Nikki Tucci and Courtney O’Connell graduating. But Bedford returns a solid group that features seniors Jenoyce Laniyan and Madeline Blake, Alexis Meservey and Rachel Widrig, and the Bulldogs should compete to make it to the final for the fourth time in five years.

Challengers

• Winnacunnet (17-4): The Warriors followed up a surprise run to the final in 2015 with a final four appearance last year and they could find themselves playing at Southern New Hampshire University again this year. Winnacunnet did lose two key players in Meg Knollmeyer and Kathleen Valcich, and a challenging early schedule could lead to a slow start, but the Warriors should be there in the end.
• Manchester Central (9-10): The Little Green were slowed by injuries last season after making it to the final four in 2015. Central has a solid group back, led by the trio of senior Jenna Chrabolowski, junior Katelyn Howe and sophomore Hannah McGrath.
• Londonderry (17-4): The Lancers were one possession away from beating Bedford in the semifinals and having a shot at three titles in a row in 2016. Londonderry lost six seniors to graduation, including Jaclyn Luckhardt, and has just two seniors and a junior on this year’s roster. Given the program’s success over the years, and what could be a void of top teams after Bedford and Bishop Guertin, it’s hard to count the Lancers out.
• Pinkerton (15-5): The Astros started strong last season before fading down the stretch, but Pinkerton lost just two players to graduation and return standout junior Amanda Lemire. Another lengthy tourney run could be in the works for the Astros.

Dark Horses

• Nashua North (12-8): The Titans were a part of the coaching carousel in the offseason, with assistant Christina Collins taking over the program. Despite some key losses to graduation, North has enough talent to be in the mix.
• Alvirne (13-6): The Broncos have a solid senior class returning for this season, and after last year’s first-round upset loss, should be hungry to improve.
• Salem (7-12): The Blue Devils also have a new coach in Ricky Oliver, who comes over from Nashua North, and a handful of seniors.

The rest of the field: Concord, Dover, Exeter, Keene, Manchester Memorial, Merrimack, Nashua South, Spaulding, Trinity.

Final four: Bishop Guertin, Bedford, Winnacunnet, Manchester Central.

Championship: Bishop Guertin over Manchester Central.

Playoffs

Starting with the 2016-17 season, the NHIAA is implementing a 70-percent rule, meaning no more than that amount of teams will make the postseason. With 18 teams in Division I, that means 12 will make the playoffs, with the top four seeds getting byes into the quarterfinals.

• Preliminary round: Wednesday, March 1
• Quarterfinals: Saturday, March 4
• Semifinals: Thursday, March 9 at Southern New Hampshire University
• Final: Saturday, March 11 at Southern New Hampshire University