By Emily Horos

ehoros@mdjonline.com

Winning Region 5AAAAA has never been easy, but the area's girls basketball teams are going to have to put up even more of a fight this season.

As in years past, North Cobb, McEachern and Marietta are expected to be some of the top teams. Joining them in contention will be a pair of Cherokee County schools in Etowah and Cherokee. Harrison may also factor in this year, as well as Kennesaw Mountain, which is returning its entire roster from 2008-09.

South Cobb, Woodstock and East Paulding are big question marks as youth dominates their rosters.

Harrison coach Steven Lenahan is pleased with what he has seen on the court thus far. In a pair of early-season victories, the Lady Hoyas were sloppy, but managed to put up enough points for solid victories.

"I think that because we have an older team, we are playing better right now," Lenahan said. "We aren't doing a good job of executing things yet, but it looks promising. If we want to beat some of the better teams in the region, we need to do a better job executing our plan."

Lenahan listed North Cobb, Marietta, McEachern and Cherokee as the top teams of 5AAAAA, while his Lady Hoyas will fall somewhere in the middle of the pack.

North Cobb coach Matt Williams also has high hopes for his Lady Warriors, which return two starters in Diamond Henderson and Maggie Trimble.

Kira Gordon, Sandy Almon and Jarae Savage, who saw significant time off the bench, are also back and taking more prominent roles.

But the pride of North Cobb may be the incoming freshman class. With five newcomers to the team, Williams expected them to make an impact before the end of the season.

"We've got a little bit of youth, and a little bit of experience, I would say," Williams said. "I see the region being extremely talented overall. I think every team is going to see improvement from last season, except maybe one, and that's East Paulding."

At Marietta, coach Ken Sprague Jr.'s team graduated six seniors, while the Lady Blue Devils return just six players from last season. Marietta also has a strong class of freshmen coming in.

"We are young and inexperienced, but I think we're going to be OK," Sprague said. "It's not just the young. It's the experience. I think we will turn that around by the time we get to the meat of our schedule.

Filling holes on the bench, and in the starting lineup, will be a host of new faces.

"We can't go on who we were last year, or the last couple years," Sprague said. "We have to find an identity - find who we are."