Osborne and Hillgrove should once again be among the top contenders in Region 7AAAA as the girls basketball season gets under way.

With Osborne returning most of its key players from a team that went 23-4, finished as the runner up in Region 7AAAA and advanced to the second round of the Class AAAA state tournament, the Lady Cardinals should be just as formidable as they were a year ago.

Osborne does have a new coach in Michael Marchese, who replaced Lisa Williams, but it will be returning largely the same group of players that have led them to the state tournament the last couple of years.

Osborne will have a strong senior core to depend on, with center Shay Jackson, forward Flo Brown, point guard Bena Hanyard and shooting guard Ashlee Allen leading the way.

Hillgrove (17-10, 11-3) went through a little bit of a rebuilding year as it relied mainly on young talent, but those young players developed fast enough to earn the Lady Hawks a fourth-place finish in 7AAAA and a return trip to the state playoffs.

Now, with its young players having that year of experience under their belts, Hillgrove should be even better this year.

Senior guard Tala Black, junior forwards Larryqua Hall and Bria Smith, sophomore guard Celina Rodrigo and sophomore forward Maisie Steed will lead the deep Hillgrove squad.

While Osborne and Hillgrove are expected to contend in Region 7AAAA, Sprayberry will be facing a rebuilding year.

The Lady Yellow Jackets lost four key players to graduation and will be depending largely on six freshman and three sophomores to carry the load.

Guard Ashley Speck is one of the two seniors on the roster and will be assuming a larger leadership role, while junior forward Nadia Ogene and junior guard Katrina Barbee are the other key players.

Allatoona went through its share of growing pains in its first season of competition as it suffered through a 2-24 inaugaral campaign.

Junior guards Kaitlin Chumley and Cierra Hardy, junior forward Natalie Benedict and sophomore Caroline Weatherbee will try to take the Lady Buccaneers a step forward in year two of their young program.

Northwest Whitfield, which advanced to the state quarterfinals last year, will be the team to beat in 7AAAA, with Rome and Dalton among the other contenders in the region.