With one month of games in the book for most teams, here is a look at how Laurel-area high school girls basketball squads are faring and how some of the teams' former players are doing with college teams this season.

Laurel

The Spartans have been one of the biggest surprises early on among Class 4A schools in Prince George's County. Laurel won just seven games last season but began this year with wins over Central, Wilde Lake, Roosevelt, Oxon Hill and Bladensburg.

Senior Marche Pearson, bothered by knee problems the past year, is one of the top scorers for Laurel. Other key players are Asia Giles and Dalvon Pinckney. The head coach for Laurel is Tommy Harrison, now in his 10th year with the program.

"We are playing together," said Pearson, who played volleyball for the Spartans this fall. Laurel was ahead by 27 points in the third quarter against Oxon Hill on Dec. 15 before the Clippers made a late charge and lost by just 12. "We have to stay strong the entire game," Pearson said.

Other top players are Shakeisha Cade and Nikolette Locke, who came off the bench to score 10 points with six rebounds in a win against Oxon Hill and was named player of the game by Harrison. Laurel is slated to play Jan. 5 at Wise in Upper Marlboro. Pearson and Pinckney had 11 points each Dec. 19 in a win over Bladensburg.

Former players: Kandace Davis averaged 5.7 points and 6.2 rebounds in the first 10 games this season for Towson University. She is a senior forward from Hyattsville. At Bowie State, Brittney Jackson averaged 10.2 minutes and 3.5 points per game in the first six contests as a reserve. She is a junior guard from Laurel.

Pallotti

The Panthers are in transition under first-year head coach Josh Pratt, a former boys assistant at Pallotti 10 years ago. He took over for Debbie Skelly, who stepped down after 10 seasons to spend more time with her two adult children. Tiffany Padgett has been the top scorer for the Panthers early on. Pallotti picked up its second win Dec. 16 against Bryn Mawr, 45-30, as Padgett had 18 points. Freshman Chanell Sparks had 11 points and Brittney Davis had 10.

"It has gone pretty good. We have played a lot of tough teams, like Seton," said Racquel Douglas, a senior from Laurel. Among the newcomers is senior Shelby Lyles, who did not play as a junior but did play her sophomore season. "She gives Tiffany a nice break. She gives us good defense," Douglas said of Lyles.

The Panthers lost, 55-36, on Dec. 11 to Severn, considered to be the team to beat in the B league of the IAAM. "We just started off really slowly. We basically lost the game in the fourth quarter. We take a quarter off, sometimes," Douglas said.

Pallotti is slated to play Jan. 4 at St. Paul's School for Girls. Padgett had 24 points Dec. 18 as the Panthers improved to 3-4 with a win over Sidwell Friends.

Former players: Ashley Lyles, a senior center at McDaniel, had nine points in a win Dec. 12 over Byrn Mawr. She is Shelby Lyles' sister, and a Pallotti graduate. Maya Pollock came off the bench in five of the first six games for West Virginia Wesleyan and averaged 6.4 minutes and 1.2 points per game. She is a freshman center from Bowie.

Jackie Buckley averaged 10.2 minutes and 1.4 points per game in five outings off the bench for Division III Bridgewater (Va.) College. She is also a freshman from Bowie.

Reservoir

Emily Smoot and Megan Fowler of Reservoir each had 10 points in a loss against Centennial on Dec. 16. Reservoir fell to 1-5 overall with a 55-42 loss Dec. 18 to Hammond. Smoot had 15 points in that game.

Former players: Brianna Bradford of North Laurel is a freshman at Penn. She came off the bench in seven of the first eight games and averaged 3.3 minutes and 0.3 points per outing.

Atholton

Atholton started two seniors, Katie Mann and Amber Cook, two juniors, Erica Makar and Bridgette Snyder, and sophomore Adrianna Vitagliano in the first game of the year.

Former players: Junior guard Julie Taylor is playing for Elon College of the Southern Conference. She averaged 10.3 minutes and 5.1 points off the bench in the first eight games. Brittany Couglan of Columbia is a sophomore guard at Berry College in Georgia. She averaged 13.2 minutes and 1.5 points in the first six games this season off the bench.

Hammond

Hammond lost, 67-53, to River Hill, one of the top teams in the area, Dec. 16 in a Howard County battle. River Hill was ranked in the Top 20 in The Washington Post at the time. Hammond's Brandone Roberts had 18 points against River Hill and Ellen Johnson and guard Simone Wise had 12 each. Roberts had 19 points in a win over Reservoir.

Roosevelt

The Raiders lost all five starters from last year to graduation and the college ranks. Rod Hairston, the former coach, moved on to McNamara after expressing interest in the girls head coaching job at Pallotti. Roosevelt lost its first game of the season to Laurel but bounced back to beat High Point on Dec. 15. The Raiders lost, 78-46, on Dec. 18 to Wise, ranked No. 10 in The Washington Post poll.

Former players: Brooke Wilson, a redshirt freshman at George Washington, started three of the first eight games and averaged 2.3 points. She graduated from Roosevelt in 2008. Olivia Applewhite, who played for Roosevelt last year, is now a freshman at Dayton. The Flyers play Jan. 9 at George Washington. Applewhite came off the bench in seven of the first nine games this season for Dayton, which was ranked in the top 25 for the first time in school history.

Elashier Hall is a freshman at Syracuse, which hosts Georgetown on Jan. 2. Hall averaged 17.9 minutes and 3.2 points per game in the first nine contests as a reserve. Selenda Nwude is a redshirt junior at Pittsburgh, which won its first eight games before losing to Penn State.

Meade

Meade improved to 6-0 with a 93-27 win Dec. 18 over Glen Burnie. Nicole Dixon had 24 points in the win.

Howard County Times sports editor Carol Gralia contributed to this report.

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