Three big takeaways following conclusion of the 2023-24 girls basketball season

CHILLICOTHE − Another girls basketball season has come and gone. As spring is sprung and the winter fades away, local teams now move into offseason as the countdown to next year begins.

With the 2023-24 season over and done, there's bound to be some time for reflection. Looking back, there was plenty to reflect on, and a lot of questions yet to be answered. Those answers might not come until next winter, but there's still time to muse on this year.

As the offseason marches on, here are three big takeaways from the 2023-24 girls basketball season:

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Does the Scioto Valley Conference race widen next year?

For the past few seasons, the SVC title race has bounced back and forth between Unioto and Adena, with little wiggle room for any other team to squeeze into the top two spots. The last team to win the SVC barring Unioto or Adena was Southeastern in 2016-17.

There's still plenty of unknowns heading into this postseason, but there's a solid chance that the race widens to the rest of the conference. Both Adena and Unioto, while still retaining plenty of production, graduate big senior classes. Huntington, meanwhile, will retain most of its squad from this season, including All-SVC First Team selection Allie Baker. Piketon, while young, won three of its last four games and has plenty of potential.

That's not even to mention Southeastern retaining a few key starters as well. That's five teams, including Unioto and Adena, all with a decent case to make a run next year. At the very least, it's an interesting shakeup for the offseason.

Waverly and Piketon both trending upward

The Tigers and the Redstreaks both sit in the postseason with a chance to move up the ladder in their respective conferences. Both squads are young, scrappy and ended the season with 11 wins.

There is, however, a lot of potential in both teams. Waverly rebounded well in the second half of Southern Ohio Conference play, winning against Wheelersburg, South Webster and Valley, and two of its conference losses in that span came by single digits.

Piketon, on the other hand, built up as the year carried on and found some success late in the year. Six of its seven SVC losses were against the top three teams in the standings. It split a series with Southeastern and put up convincing wins over the rest of the SVC.

Given the youth of both teams, there's reason to believe next season to be another step forward. Grant another year or two, and each of them might be vying for control of their respective conferences.

What names to keep an eye on next year?

Of course there's a lot of talent that'll soon be leaving the area. That's natural as high school athletes graduate and move on. Not to worry, however, there's plenty of athletes coming in to fill the ranks. Of course, the usual All-SVC mentions will headline, but there's a considerable undercurrent of new talent that showed itself this year.

Two names that immediately come to mind: Piketon's Laila Kelley and Adena's Marly Halcomb. Both freshman, and both top 10 in the SVC for scoring − Kelley averaged 13.1 points per game and Halcomb 12.7 per game. Not to mention both of them being top five in the league for 3-pointers made.

Southeastern's Gracie Brown and Reese Ruckel are both going to be vital for the Panthers next year as well. Both earned considerable time on the floor as sophomores this year, and it paid dividends for the Panthers. Brown and Ruckel averaged 11.4 and 10.2 points per game respectively, and Brown led the SVC in made 3-pointers.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Girls Basketball: Three big takeaways from the 2023-24 season