Best High School Girls Basketball Player in Every State 2022: Northeast
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Here it is, the final group in Stadium Talk's preseason list of the best girls basketball player in every state headed into the 2022-23 season. It all starts with a simple premise — you need to name the No. 1 pick in girls high school basketball in every state. Who do you pick?
Our final group of girls is from the northeast region, including Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Here's a look at the best high school girls basketball players in those states.
Connecticut: Mackenzie Nelson
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High School: St. Luke's School (New Canaan, Connecticut)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-9
College: Virginia Tech
Bottom Line: Virginia Tech has an absolute gem headed its way with St. Luke's School guard Mackenzie Nelson, who averaged 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 5.0 steals as a junior on the way to sweeping Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year and Connecticut MaxPreps Player of the Year honors.
Nelson, who is the first Gatorade POY winner from St. Luke's, led her school to a 26-1 record in 2021-22. She scored 45 points in a 76-75 overtime loss to Brooks in the NEPAC championship game in a battle of unbeaten teams.
Delaware: Dallas Pierce
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High School: Sanford High School (Hockessin, Delaware)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-9
College: UMass
Bottom Line: Dallas Pierce helped lead Sanford High to a 17-2 record and a state runner-up finish as a junior in 2021-22, and she was named All-State for the second consecutive year.
Pierce is committed to playing for UMass, picking them over VCU, La Salle and Saint Joseph's.
District of Columbia: Jadyn Donovan
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High School: Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.)
Position: Forward
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 6-foot
College: Duke
Bottom Line: Jadyn Donovan formed a formidable 1-2 punch as a junior with National Player of the Year Kiki Rice for Sidwell Friends as she averaged 15.5 points and 9.4 rebounds on the way to being named MaxPreps National Champions.
With Rice now playing for UCLA, it's Donovan's time to shine, and she seems ready for the challenge. Donovan, who is committed to Duke, was named a MaxPreps All-American as a junior and a MaxPreps Preseason All-American heading into the 2022-23 season. She's also already a two-time gold medal winner for Team USA, helping lead her country to the FIBA U16 and FIBA U17 world championships in 2021 and 2022.
Maine: Bailey Breen
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High School: Oceanside High School (Rockland, Maine)
Position: Center
Graduation Year: 2025
Height: 6-foot-3
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Oceanside High's Bailey Breen wasted little time making history as a freshman in 2021-22, leading her school to the first Class B state championship in school history with 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in a 31-28 win over Hermon in the championship game. Oceanside finished with a 20-0 record.
Breen, who received a Division I offer from the University of Maine before she even began playing high school basketball, was named to the 2022 Varsity Maine All-State Team after she averaged 19.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.2 blocks.
Maryland: Riley Nelson
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High School: Clarksburg High School (Clarksburg, Maryland)
Position: Guard/Forward
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 6-foot-1
College: Maryland
Bottom Line: Riley Nelson filled up the stat sheet for Clarksburg High as a junior, averaging 17.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.6 blocks on the way to a 23-1 record and Class 4A state runner-up finish. The season was a big payoff for Nelson, who missed all but one game of her freshman year (after she broke her wrist) and her entire sophomore season because of the pandemic.
Nelson is signed to play for Maryland and headlined a Top 10 recruiting class for the Terrapins.
Massachusetts: Oluchi Okanawa
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High School: Worcester Academy (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-9
College: Duke
Bottom Line: Duke signee Oluchi Okanawa has already been on quite a basketball journey — she was named Salem (Mass.) News Player of the Year and Northeast Conference Player of the Year as a freshman at Peabody High coming off the bench before transferring to New Hampton (N.H.) Prep and then transferring again to Worcester Academy.
She is the third Top 30 commit from the Class of 2023 to commit to Duke.
New Hampshire: Ahnay Adams
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High School: Tilton School
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2024
Height: 5-foot-6
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Tilton School guard Ahnay Adams swept the New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year and New Hampshire MaxPreps Player of the Year awards after she guided her team to a 23-3 record and NEPSAC Class AA runner-up finish as a junior in 2021-22.
Adams, 5-foot-6, averaged 22.6 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 steals and was also named NEPSAC Class AA Player of the Year. She's ranked as a Top 50 recruit in the Class of 2024, according to the ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.
New York: Kate Koval
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High School: Long Island Lutheran High School (Brookville, New York)
Position: Center
Graduation Year: 2024
Height: 6-foot-5
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Long Island Lutheran High's Kate Koval was named a MaxPreps Sophomore All-American in 2021-22 after the 6-foot-5 center averaged 18.7 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks while shooting 55 percent from the field. Koval came to the U.S. in 2021 as an exchange student from Ukraine and is ranked No. 17 in the ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings for the Class of 2024.
She also represented Ukraine in the World U18 3-on-3 Tournament in 2022.
New Jersey: Hannah Hidalgo
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High School: Paul VI High School (Haddonfield, New Jersey)
Position: Point Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-6
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Paul VI High's Hannah Hidalgo is the No. 1 point guard and No. 5 overall recruit in the Class of 2023 and has averaged 21.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a whopping 5.4 steals through her first three high school seasons.
Paul VI is 61-9 with Hidalgo over the last three seasons. She was named a MaxPreps Junior All-American in 2022 and helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA U17 World Cup in Hungary.
Named the 2022 Courier Post South Jersey Player of the year, she has narrowed down her college picks to six schools that include Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke, Michigan, Central Florida and Ohio State.
Pennsylvania: Ciera Toomey
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High School: Dunmore High School (Dunmore, Pennsylvania)
Position: Forward
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 6-foot-3
College: North Carolina
Bottom Line: Dunmore High's Ciera Toomey led her school to a 25-2 record and was named Pennsylvania MaxPreps Player of the Year and a MaxPreps All-American after she averaged 18.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and shot 67.2 percent from the field.
Toomey is ranked as the No. 4 overall recruit in the Class of 2023, according to ESPN's HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings. Committed to playing for North Carolina, Toomey is also a two-time Class 2A state medalist in golf but tore her ACL in the district championship game on March 3, 2022.
Rhode Island: Jillian Rogers
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High School: North Kingstown High School (North Kingstown, Rhode Island)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-7
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: North Kingstown guard Jillian Rogers led her school to a 23-2 record and the RIIL Division I state semifinals as a junior in 2021-22. In doing so, she was named Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year and Rhode Island MaxPreps Player of the Year.
Rogers averaged 19.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.7 steals, 2.6 assists and 1.8 blocks and is already a two-time All-State selection.
Vermont: Elyse MacDonough
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High School: Rice Memorial High School (South Burlington, Vermont)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2024
Height: 5-foot-7
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Rice Memorial's Elyse MacDonough swept both the Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year and Vermont MaxPreps Player of the Year awards after she led her school to a 20-1 record and the Division I state championship.
MacDonough averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals — she was also named Vermont Dream Dozen and All-Metro.
The Entire List of Girls High School Basketball Players by State
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To read the entire list of best girls high school basketball players, check out our coverage of the other regions in the U.S. for the 2022-23 season: