Prep basketball fans in the Pikes Peak region don't have to look far to see some of the best talent in the state. 

While local teams made appearances in the top 10 of CHSAA's preseason girls' basketball rankings across the varying divisions, it's clear the Colorado Springs area is a stronghold in girls' 3A hoops. 

Four local teams are ranked inside the top five: Colorado Springs Christian, St. Mary's, Peyton and The Vanguard School. Of those four, three are from the same conference, the highly competitive 4A/3A Tri-Peaks League. 

"Last year, we had five of the final eight at state and the Tri-Peaks League was the entire final four," St. Mary's coach Caleb Strickland said. "Being in the Tri-Peaks League does a fantastic job of preparing us for the end of the season and to make a postseason run. I don't think, across the board, (anybody) is seeing the kind of competition that we're seeing in their own league during the regular season."

Local teams swept the top three spots in preseason rankings with defending 3A state champion CSCS listed first, rival St. Mary's taking second and Peyton -- the only locally ranked team not in the Tri-Peaks League -- rounding out third. Vanguard is ranked fifth. 

The 15-team league features schools from the metro area down to Salida, Lamar and La Junta. Last year, five of the teams -- CSCS, St. Mary's, Vanguard, Lamar and Ellicott -- had double-digit conference wins along with 20-win seasons.  

The Lions graduated just three seniors from a season ago none of which included their top three scorers in senior Grace Minihane, sophomore Kinley Asp and junior Abigail Perry. 

Vanguard, which fell to CSCS in the state final 57-41, by contrast graduated their top three scorers in Hailey Blanchard, Juliana Garcia and Elysia Bottcher with Blanchard and Garcia each scoring 1,000 points for the Coursers in their careers. Furthermore, the Coursers are led by coach Chelsea Lively who took over the reins from coach Scott Arrasmith this offseason. 

St. Mary's, who bested league foe Ellicott in the third-place game last season after falling to the Lions in the semifinal, retained its top scoring duo in seniors Emerson Kutz and Maeve Salveson. The Pirates opened the season with a close win, a 36-35 result over 4A Lutheran. 

"Our goal is always to compete at the state level and it just so happens that with our league, you have to be competitive at the state level to be competitive in our league," Strickland said. 

Outside the Tri-Peaks League, Peyton, which entered last year's postseason as the top seed, made a statement in its opening match, trouncing 4A Manitou Springs 70-9. The Panthers return their dynamic scoring duo of AJ Mannering and Abbie Nickell. 

Outside 3A play, both Air Academy and Palmer Ridge earned spots in the preseason rankings for 5A. The Kadets are ranked fifth and the Bears are eighth. 

Air Academy returns its top three players in points per game with juniors Lydia Flowers and Tatyonna Brown and senior Caitlin Kramer, who recently signed her commitment to Colorado State. Kramer was also The Gazette's girls' basketball Peak Performer of the Year last season. 

The Bears return senior guard Kylie Mayer who was second on the team in scoring last year, and junior guard Taylor Peterson who ranked inside the top three in assists, rebounds, steals and blocks. 

Falcon and Mesa Ridge also received votes in the poll. 

The Classical Academy stood as the only ranked team in 4A, taking the No. 10 spot. The Titans retained their scoring leader in senior guard Alaina Bonacquista. 

Manitou Springs and Sierra also received votes in the 4A poll. 

No area teams cracked the top 10 in 1A, 2A or 6A basketball but a pair 6A teams did receive votes. Watch for Pine Creek and Doherty this year. The Eagles made it to the Sweet 16 in the state playoffs a season ago and the Spartans fought all the way to the Great Eight.