Nashua North's Summer St. Pierre reaches in as South's Maren Lowell drives to the hoop durng a game last year. The two teams are set to open up on Tuesday. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

It’s been almost a certainty every winter. The Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team would be facing Bedford in the Division I finals. If not the Bulldogs, maybe Portsmouth or Pinkerton.

Now, it could be a whole new world in Division I. Locally at most all levels, inexperience is the common theme, as the word “senior” is not.

Brad Kreick is no longer giving the orders from the BG bench. His legacy of six championships and one shared crown in eight seasons is etched in stone.

Now, his successor, Olivia Orlando, will try to build her own program, as the Cards return no one who saw any meaningful time from last year’s title win over Bedford.

Thus, everyone starts from square one, including Nashua North and South, Merrimack, and Alvirne.

In Division II, another coaching change has taken place, as Heidi Moore was elevated from JV coach at Hollis Brookline with longtime Bob Murphy no longer on the Cavs bench. Milford had an incredible season a year ago and will try to fight through graduation losses. Souhegan also looks to improve.

Things are already underway in Divisions III and IV with Campbell opening with a close loss this past Friday while Wilton-Lyndeborough is 1-2.

Here’s a look:

DIVISION I

Can the Cards overcome all the changes and inexperience? With the energetic Orlando, their former fall league coach and a Providence alum, they’ll certainly give it a great try.

“If you’re able to catch a BG varsity girls basketball game this year, you can count on feeling the energy as soon as you walk into the gym,” Orlando said, “while simultaneously observing our squad’s strong teammwork, unwavering resilience and consistent hard work.”

The Cards are extremely young. Ayla Regan is a 5-4 junior guard, but the other key players are freshmen – 5-6 point guard Jas Rosario and 5-5 freshman guard Holly Dufoe – and sophomores, as in 5-4 guard Maddi Long, 5-7 forward Bella Fayad and 5-8 forward Thalia Drapeau. Any names sound familiar? No, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be talented.

Nashua North will be young, and already suffered a loss with junior guard Aidan Walker going down to a season-ending injury. There only two seniors on the roster, and only three with varsity experience led by 5-4 senior guard Summer St. Pierre. Young keys are 5-2 junior guard Kayla Dahl,sophomores Angie King (5-4 guard) and Jordan Cottier (5-7 forward), and watch 5-8 freshman guard Lilly Small.

“We’re excited about the youth in the program and will play eight or nine first-time varsity players,” North coach Curt Dutilley said. “While this is a young group, we beliee they are extremely talented and already displaying characteristics that will build the foundation of a winning culture moving forward.”

Nashua South is guard-oriented, with not a ton of size, but the Panthers have a super athlete in 5-6 senior Morgan Gillis. Other keys are 5-4 junior guard Karina O’Donnell, 5-1 junior guard Maren Lowell, and 5-3 sophomore guard Addie Borden, a transfer from BG.

“We’ve got only three varsity players back who played more than five minutes a game last year, so there’s a lot of work ahead,” Panthers coach John Bourgeois said. “They’re hard working, great kids and they’re up for the challenge.”

Alvirne coach Frank Girginis calls his team “the Baby Broncos” as that means some inexperience. They’ll be led by 5-10 junior forward Ela Hartson, 5-8 senior forward Sadie Rogers and 5-8 sophomore forward Julia Adams.

“For us to have any success this season we have to first become a team and play for each other,” Girginis said. “From there, we need to play using our important muscle. We do those two things we will compete.”

Merrimack will be in the same boat as BG, returning just one player, senior forward Gianna Maglio, with varsity experience as they lost their top two scorers from a year ago. Senior Mia Getchel and senior guard Ella Fong will also be keys.

“It will take some time,” Tomahawks coach Bryan Duggan said, “but we’re hoping the girls will learn fast the level needed to compete at Division I. It’ll be a long process but it’s been exciting to see the girls picking things up already two weeks in.”

DIVISION II

A year ago, the Milford High School girls basketball team reached a level it hadn’t seen in years, winning 14 regular season games, reaching the quarterfinals plus winning the Nashua Holiday Tournament and becoming a big factor in Division II.

This year the Spartans will try to get to that level again, led by Lulu Maguire, a 5-5 junior guard who was 12th in Division II scoring averaging 11.7 points a game, plus three other key juniors: Avery Fuller, 5-9 guard; Ellianna Nassy, 5-9 forward and Claire Cote, 5-8 forward. And there’s also 5-5 sophomore guard Shea Hansen.

“We hope to build on last year’s success, but it won’t be easy,” Spartans coach Mike Davidson said. “We surprised a few teams last year,but I don’t think we’ll be surprising anyone this year. The goal is to be playing our best basketball in February.”

Milford’s Lulu Maguire will be a key for the Spartans as they work to get back to the Division II tournament. (Cabinet photo by TOM KING)

Milford’s Lulu Maguire will be a key for the Spartans as they work to get back to the Division II tournament. (Cabinet photo by TOM KING)

Meanwhile, the Souhegan Sabers made their first tourney appearance in seven seasons, but those key players have graduated. So what to do? Build around four-year varsity player Mishka Tower, a 5-6 senior guard, plus 5-7 junior forward Caroline Drum, 5-3 junior guard Phoebe Faucher and 5-6 sophomore forward Zofia Rosenfield.

“We’re expecting to compete for a playoff spot all the way until the final day of the season,” Sabers coach Michael Vetack said. “We are overall pretty young so the future can be exciting but we are focused on making the current season a surprise for the rest of (Division II).”

Adding to the competition in Division II is the move up from III by Concord Christian, so things will be interesting.

At Hollis Brookline, Moore will have just one senior, Julia Robbins, and has junior Emily Tebbetts and Anik Carlson. There are five sophomores: Ana O’Donnell, Brooke Bouchard, Grace Dow, Payton Dunn and Charlotte Robbins. Also watch freshman Samantha Disco.

“HB may be young but we’re fast and may surprise many teams with our energy and hustle,” Moore said.

DIVISION III

Campbell opened this past Friday, losing by eight to Kearsarge. Seniors LeAnn Ramos and Kate Soule are big keys and leaders on the floor, while junior forward Kayl Denwiddie can be a key off the bench and another senior, Haley Swanson, will be a shot blocker in the paint (two in the opener).

“We had contributions from all team members,” Cougars coach Hannah Neild said.

DIVISION IV

You think Milford and Souhegan took big steps forward a year ago, how about Wilton-Lyndeborough, which had gone three years without a varsity team and then made the Division IV tourney?

“We hope to build on a strong last season and be a playoff contender,” Warriors coach Tom Crowley said.

The Warriors will be led by the offense of 5-11 senior forward Adri Bausha, plus the defense of 5-7 junior guard-forward Kelsey Crouse. Keep an eye too on 5-5 freshman guard Lexi Bausha, among others. The other seniors are 5-9 guard Sandy Sanchez and 5-6 forward Naomi Bozarth.