The 2025-26 high school girls basketball season has passed the midway point of the regular season in Ohio.
League races are heating up and OHSAA tournament games start next month.
With that mind, the Akron Beacon Journal has compiled a list of the top players in Greater Akron. The list includes players from Summit County schools, and from two schools just outside the county, Highland and Wadsworth.
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Two players are scoring more than 20 points per game, and a few others are close.
1. Evelyn McKnight, Copley, Class of 2026
McKnight is averaging around 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. She helped account for all but one point on Jan. 14 in a 48-44 loss to Highland by scoring 37 points and assisted Zoey Van Voorhis on two 3-pointers. A Youngstown State recruit, McKnight compiled 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a 60-26 win over Revere on Jan. 7. She scored 25 points twice, in a 57-36 win over Kent Roosevelt and a 66-39 victory over Lutheran East. She also scored 24 points twice, in a 57-13 win over Cuyahoga Falls and in a 58-5 victory over Barberton, 23 points in a 55-53 win over Tallmadge and 17 points in a 58-45 win over Highland.
2. Melania Cornute, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Class of 2027
Cornute is averaging around 23 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.0 block. She scored a career-high 31 points twice in wins, 59-49 against Ryle (Kentucky) on Dec. 28 and 58-57 versus Lutheran East on Jan. 8. She scored 27 points in a 59-33 win over Ursuline, 26 points in a 58-25 victory over Walsh Jesuit, 24 points in a 63-18 victory over Toledo Bowsher, 23 points in a 66-45 win over Bishop Hartley and 22 points in a 53-39 victory over Berlin Hiland. Her season also includes 21 points in a 68-32 triumph over Richmond Heights and 18 points twice, in a 71-33 win over Rocky River and a 44-38 loss to Nazareth (New York). She has scholarship offers from Youngstown State and Ashland.
3. Niera Stevens, Archbishop Hoban, Class of 2026
A Meryhurst recruit, Stevens is averaging around 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. She scored 33 points in a 75-65 loss to South Fayette (Pennsylvania) on Jan. 2 and 27 points in a 78-59 win over Padua on Dec. 27. She also scored 22 points in a 63-62 victory over Anthony Wayne, 20 points in a 70-32 win over Boardman, 19 points in a 72-36 victory over Gilmour Academy and 17 points twice in wins, 57-45 against Big Walnut and 77-35 over Howland.
4. Taylor Dye, Twinsburg, Class of 2026
Dye is averaging around 11 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals and helped Twinsburg beat two teams from Florida and one team from Georgia to win a bracket in the Tampa Bay Invitational. She scored 20 points in a 54-36 win over North Royalton and 14 points in a 54-47 victory over Laurel in Ohio. She then scored 10 points apiece in a 43-42 win over Camden County (Georgia) and a 38-29 triumph over New Smyrna Beach High School (Florida). Dye made the game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds left to top Camden County (Georgia).
5. Sydney Ferguson, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Class of 2028
Ferguson is averaging around 12 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks this season. She had 22 points and 16 rebounds in a 65-60 loss to Massillon in overtime, 18 points in a 71-33 win over Rocky River and 15 points in a 54-37 loss to Big Walnut. Her list of 10 college scholarship offers includes California, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. She is ranked No. 23 in the nation in the class of 2028 on ESPNW SportsCenter NEXT – Terrific 25.
6. Lauren Decker, Wadsworth, Class of 2026
Decker is averaging around 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Decker scored 26 points in a 61-41 win over Nordonia, had 24 points and seven rebounds in a 62-48 win over North Royalton and scored 14 points in a 56-37 win over Canton McKinley. She has committed to play volleyball at Robert Morris University after helping Wadsworth win Suburban League National Conference and Division II district titles. She was named the Division II District Volleyball Player of the Year and was a second-team All-Ohio selection.
7. Haydn Paul, Nordonia, Class of 2026
Paul is averaging around 18 points, 7.5 rebounds, two steals and two assists on a varsity team that dresses eight freshmen for some of its games. Paul set a Nordonia single-game scoring record with 40 points in a 69-54 loss to Solon on Dec. 6. She scored 23 points in a 58-54 loss to North Ridgeville and scored 21 points twice, in a 47-45 win over Brecksville and a 48-38 victory over Midview. She also had 20 points in a 47-45 loss to GlenOak.
8. MaKenzie Grant, Archbishop Hoban, Class of 2026
Grant is one of the best defenders in the area and is averaging around 11 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Grant scored 15 points in a 78-59 win over Padua and 14 points twice in wins, 57-45 over Big Walnut and 75-51 over Lutheran East. She contributed 13 points in a 63-62 victory over Anthony Wayne and 12 points in a 52-40 win over Twinsburg.
9. Dakota Graham, Norton, Class of 2026
Graham is averaging around 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. She scored 21 points in a 49-44 win over Johnstown-Monroe, 19 points in a 49-38 loss to Canfield and 16 points in a 57-36 victory over Woodridge.
10. Grace Shondel, Highland, Class of 2026
Shondel is averaging around eight points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists. She totaled 13 points, five steals and four assists in a 54-44 win over Kent Roosevelt and 13 points, six rebounds and three steals in a 56-45 victory over Chippewa. She had 11 points, six rebounds and six steals in a 35-33 win over Aurora and 10 points and seven steals in a 47-44 win over Medina.
11. Ashli Pearson, Hudson, Class of 2028
Pearson is averaging around 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. She scored a career-high 19 points in a 78-59 win over Solon on Jan. 10. She scored 15 points twice, in a 68-50 win over Solon on Dec. 3 and in a 59-48 loss to Brecksville on Dec. 17. She had 12 points in a 67-46 win over Stow on Jan. 14 and 11 points in a 38-34 victory over the Bulldogs on Dec. 6.
12. Kayla Cellura, Twinsburg, Class of 2026
Cellura is averaging around 12 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal. She scored 24 points in 58-46 win over Solon, had 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 60-38 win over Nordonia and scored 14 points in a 54-47 win over Laurel. She scored 13 points in a 38-29 win over New Smyrna Beach High School (Florida) in the championship game of bracket play in the Tampa Bay Invitational.
13. Kasey Bolyard, Mogadore, Class of 2027
Bolyard leads Mogadore in scoring (15.8), assists (3.9) and steals (3.4) and also averages 4.1 rebounds. Bolyard scored 28 points in a 67-23 win over Springfield, 18 points in a 55-49 victory over Manchester and 16 points in a 59-31 loss to Tallmadge. She finished with 14 points in a 42-27 victory over Field and a 42-38 victory over Lake Center Christian.
14. Kara Esterak, Walsh Jesuit, Class of 2027
Esterak leads Walsh in scoring (15.4) and assists (4.6) and is second in steals (3.1). She also averages 4.1 rebounds. She tied the school record for made 3-pointers with seven on 7 of 11 shooting from beyond the arc, scored a game-high 23 points and had five assists in 67-50 loss to Wadsworth. She totaled 23 points, 10 assists and five steals in a 60-47 win over Villa Angela-St. Joseph. She had 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 47-41 win over Howland and had 19 points in a 45-39 loss to Strongsville.
15. Rae Pooler, Tallmadge, Class of 2027
Pooler averages around 12 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds. She scored 18 points in a 54-19 win over Revere and 12 points in a 38-34 victory over Copley.
Others considered (in alphabetical order): Jonna Albertson, Tallmadge; Anna Anzevino, Hudson; Amariya Davis, Hoban; Addie Dobbins, Norton; Kennady Dodds, Stow; Alivia Goff, Norton; Abby Henderson, Hudson; Jaci Hutton, Twinsburg; Kenadie Keith, Ellet; Julia Maddox, Wadsworth; Natalie Maddox, Wadsworth; Madison Morgan, Highland; Rowan Kildoo, Highland; Corrine “Coco” Pooler, Tallmadge; Chloe Rorabaugh, Revere; D’Amore Scott, Ellet; Leah Sobolewski, Walsh Jesuit, Tatum Smith, St. Vincent-St. Mary; Ce’Airah Underwood, North; Zoey Van Voorhis, Copley.
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal. Brad Bournival can be reached at bbournival@usatoday.com. Contact Michael Leonard at mleonard@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: OHSAA girls basketball, ranking Greater Akron top players in 2025-26
Reporting by Michael Beaven, Brad Bournival and Michael Leonard, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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