HANOVER, Mass. — The first major grassroots girls showcase of the season is in the books, and we have a lot to unpack.
Starland Sportsplex hosted the New England Spring Showdown this past weekend. Though not a live period event, the showcase provided a rare chance to see most of the region's top AAU programs go head-to-head under one roof. I roamed the facility from about 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day and was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of basketball and big names on display.
The 2026 class has the spotlight for its final travel season. Given we're only in mid-April, and players are still learning how to work with each other on new teams, we shouldn't overreact to one two-day stretch. But several 2026 stars caught my eye immediately.
With this being my first AAU tournament of the spring, I'd like to lay out my viewing approach for transparency. I typically try to watch full games as often as possible unless it's a real blowout. Yes, this means I sacrifice quantity of teams and players, but it allows me to more fairly and completely understand the talent I'm evaluating. For this showcase in particular, I wanted to see the elite New England circuit squads in competitive action because many won't play locally again this year. And I'm not going to pretend I saw every highlight performance. For example, iBelieve Elite's top team went 3-1 — unfortunately, I happened to only catch their one loss.
Below is a list of results from full games I watched, followed by my ten 2026 standouts, listed alphabetically by team.
Saturday
Bay State Jaguars UA Rise Black 72, CT Storm 44
Bay State Jaguars E40 67, Maine Firecrackers 25
MCW Starz 2027 P24 54, iBelieve Elite 2027 S40 49
iBelieve Elite 2027 S40 50, Mass Huskies 2027 EYCL 38
Mass Rivals 2027 3SSB 50, MCW Starz 2027 P24 49
Mass Rivals 2026 3SSB 53, MCW Starz 2026 P24 51
Bay State Jaguars 2026 UAA 54, Mass Huskies 2026 EYCL 46
Sunday
Mass Rivals 2026 3SSB 58, iBelieve Elite 2026 S40 42
D4S 2026 55, Dana Barros Elite 46
Bay State Jaguars 2027 UAA 53, United NJ 2027 P24 42
MCW Starz 2026 P24 76, Bay State Jaguars 2026 UAA 71 (OT)
Mass Huskies 2027 EYCL 44, Team NSSA Platinum 2027 33
New England Storm 2027 HGSL 51, MCW Starz 2027 P24 49
Bay State Jaguars 2027 UAA 64, iBelieve 2027 S40 58
Molly Corcoran, Bay State Jaguars 2026 UAA
5-7 guard
Tabor/Medford, Mass.
NCAA: Colgate
Sunday's game against MCW was my favorite in-person watch of Corcoran across both AAU and prep school. She played with a confidence that I hadn't seen before and was on fire behind the arc, drilling corner 3s and some gutsy pull-up buckets down the stretch. Corcoran also threw some flashy passes and ran the point for lengthy portions of this game. She's already committed to Colgate, so with the recruiting pressure off, maybe Corcoran can keep up the free-flowing production.
Brooke Nunnally-Gardner, Bay State Jaguars 2026 UAA
6-0 forward
Dexter Southfield/Stoughton, Mass.
Nunnally-Gardner is not flashy or dominant, but she consistently draws praise from teammates, coaches and spectators. She just goes out and does her work as a solid, steadying presence in the post. Nunnally-Gardner was rewarded with a bunch of open layups on the low block in the Jaguars' press offense against MCW. She rebounds at a high level, especially considering she's facing taller, longer athletes. Her post footwork is great, she'll recognize help defenders and kick the ball out to shooters, and she's a tough, physical defender. I could hear Nunnally-Gardner telling her teammates to "settle" and stay calm during the crunch-time possessions, and though the Jaguars lost that game, she commands respect from her teammates.
Abigail Casper, D4S 2026
6-0 guard/forward
Northwest Catholic/West Hartford, Conn.
One of the best players in CIAC basketball, Casper is a big, strong wing with a developed off-dribble game. I watched her make a great outlet pass to the wing off of a baseline drive where most players would get themselves stuck. Casper drilled a quick spot-up 3-pointer, then hit a more impressive stepback later in Sunday's win against Dana Barros Elite. She also does a good job keeping up on defense against quicker players who try to drive by her. I think there's a ton of potential for Casper with her blend of size, vision and skill.
Maeve Horsman, Dana Barros Elite 2026
5-8 guard/forward
Oliver Ames/North Easton, Mass.
If we're listing the most fun, high-effort players from this weekend, I'm putting Horsman near the top. She's the closest her team has to a player with size to defend forwards and bigs, and she absolutely battled in the loss to D4S. I tallied up multiple blocks, more deflections and forced turnovers, multiple layups that drew fouls and some big-time offensive rebounds. Horsman cut all over the place throughout the game and made sound defensive rotations.
Norah Fuld, iBelieve Elite 2026 S40
6-2 center
Millbrook/Westport, Conn.
I know most of iBelieve Elite's star-studded top roster and think highly of it. But Fuld was a new name to me, and in a challenging matchup against a talented, imposing Rivals frontcourt, she still made an impact. Fuld had a couple of quality defensive contests, including closing out and blocking a 3-pointer on a switch. She battled elite prospect Caterina Ravosa in the post and made her shots difficult. Fuld also banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and crashed the glass. She's lanky and mobile for her size.
Lauren Bousquet, Mass Huskies 2026 EYCL
5-10 forward
Moses Brown/Providence, R.I.
Bousquet has a unique style of play for today's game. She's more of an old-school power forward – with a major emphasis on the power. She's extremely strong and unbothered by contact on drives or in rebounding battles. Her footwork is refined and her scoring touch on floaters and jumpers inside of 15 feet is remarkable. I want to keep watching more of Bousquet as a passer, but her impressions this weekend were positive, highlighted by a nice extra interior feed for a cutting layup.
Olivia Fleming, Mass Rivals 2026 3SSB
5-8 guard
Northfield Mount Hermon/Windham, N.H.
Fleming was among my favorite watches this entire weekend. Her defense against some of the region's best point guards was awesome. She hustled back to swat a transition layup against MCW and slid well laterally to smother a drive on one of Rivals' final defensive stops. Then against iBelieve, she went 1-on-1 to block Bela Cucuta's iso driving attempt at the end of the first half. That doesn't account for the extra steals and deflections she picked up in the passing lanes.
On offense, Fleming had her 3-point shot clicking against MCW. It wasn't falling the same way against iBelieve, but she still got buckets with some sharp hesitations and crossovers, one leading to a sweet reverse layup. She's so quick and decisive with her attacking moves.
Elyse Ngenda, Mass Rivals 2026 3SSB
5-9 guard
New Hampton/Bedford, N.H.
I'm wholly unsurprised that Ngenda can fit her game into a stacked Rivals roster. She just doesn't force bad shots. In the Saturday win over MCW, she drilled three easy-looking mid-range jumpers in quick succession but didn't heat-check herself into poor looks. Her transition driving and playmaking looks even better in the AAU setting of high-tempo, chaotic basketball, and she's also capable of matching physicality levels on defense.
PROSPECT WATCH:Â Why Ngenda is among the best in the 2026 class
Izzy Adams, MCW Starz 2026 P24
5-8 guard
Dexter Southfield/Walpole, Mass.
Adams had to create a lot of offense for Dexter during the prep school season, so it was interesting to see her in a less demanding role on MCW's best squad. She was active and effective cutting for buckets, hit some 3-pointers from the corner, and when she saw chances to drive, she kept defenders guessing by changing speeds, getting to floaters, or drawing help and then dishing a pass inside. Adams is a phenomenal rebounding guard, and she picked up a clutch steal in the backcourt that proved pivotal in MCW's Sunday overtime thriller against the Jaguars.
Emma Smith, MCW Starz 2026 P24
5-10 guard/forward
Concord Christian/Hudson, N.H.
Smith was a relative unknown to me, but she played a lot for MCW this weekend and shined with her speed, effort and perimeter shooting. She was among the primary beneficiaries of MCW's top playmakers by cutting hard, finishing layups efficiently and running in transition. She also looked comfortable firing 3s quickly off the catch and pursued offensive rebounds. Smith averaged 18.5 points at Concord Christian during the regular season – I'll definitely have her more on my radar going forward.
Quick shouts: Though I only got to watch them once, the D4S team as a whole was super fun — tons of shooting and multiple players who attack closeouts and drive hard. That game against Dana Barros Elite was great. DB's Avery Gamble (Oliver Ames/Easton, Mass.) also played well; as a small guard, she's extremely impressive finishing around the basket through contact. ... I'd give Celia Neilson (Bishop Fenwick/Georgetown, Mass.) praise on MCW Starz as a versatile guard who moves well without the ball and plays stout defense. ... Jaguars wing Lauren Fitzgerald (Tabor/North Attleboro, Mass.) continues to improve as a cutting and driving scorer, and her length and 6-foot frame help her block a bunch of shots. ... I don't want to pull too much from the two blowout Jags games I watched, but Sophie Gibbons (Wachusett/Holden, Mass.) and Jenna Mishou (Archbishop Williams/Hanson, Mass.) had bright moments for their teams. ... Fope Ayo draws a ton of attention on Rivals with her size (nearly 6-foot-6?) and recruiting reputation. I think we're getting continued progress from her — she finished through contact often against iBelieve and was a bit more mobile on defense than I expected.
