Here are five girls basketball players to watch in the Herald-News area this season.

Ava Gugliuzza, Lincoln-Way West, sr., G

Gugliuzza and the rest of the Warriors have already made an early-season statement, winning the championship of the WHOL Tip-Off over the weekend led by the Most Valuable Player-taking efforts of SIU-Edwardsville recruit Gugliuzza, who’s coming off averaging 22.2 points per game last winter.

Destiny McNair, Joliet West, sr., G

A two-time All-Southwest Prairie Conference performer, McNair alongside double-double machine Maziah Shelton already have the Tigers off to a strong start, including a runner-up placing in the WJOL Tip-Off.

Annalise Pietrzyk, Providence, sr., G

A Division-II recruit to Michigan’s Hillsdale College, Pietrzyk surpassed 1,000 points in her varsity career at the season-opening WJOL Tip-Off Tournament and will add plenty more before the season is through.

Lexi Salazar, Plainfield North, sr., G

An American University recruit, Salazar is already the Tigers’ career 3-point leader and on her way to reaching the 1,000-point milestone for the defending SPC West champions.

Angelina Smith, Bolingbrook, jr., G

Between Smith — one of the top-ranked 11th-graders in the state and already a recipient of better than a dozen Division I offers — and fellow high-level recruit Persais Williams in the paint, the Raiders look poised to compete for a return run to the Class 3A State Finals after last winter’s third-place finish.