1. Bishop Manogue Miners
The Miners lost their best player Breezi Holt (now at Cal Poly) and yet appeared to improve in 2015-16, winning their second straight regional title in convincing fashion against Reno.
2. Reno Huskies
They entered the year as the prohibitive favorite, but the Huskies weren’t able to get past the Miners.
3. Damonte Ranch Mustangs
Morgan Waller and Meagan Carlson made up the best low post tandem in the Northern Nevada before Carlson missed the end of the year with an injury. Even with her, Damonte wasn’t going to be able to keep up with Reno or Manogue.
4. Douglas Tigers
The Tigers were incredibly young this season (started four freshmen in the playoffs) which showed early before becoming one of the hottest teams in the DI North at the end of the year.
5. McQueen Lancers
Going into the final three weeks of the season, McQueen was tied atop the High Desert League with Reno. Injuries played a part in the Lancers struggling late and getting upset in the quarterfinals by Douglas.
6. North Valleys Panthers
The Panthers flew under the radar all year, getting particularly overlooked in the High Desert League thanks to the fast starts by Reno and McQueen.
7. Reed Raiders
Reed was starting three freshmen and two sophomores by the end of the season, so a down year by Reed’s standards wasn’t entirely surprising.
8. Spanish Springs Cougars
The Cougars played some top tier teams competitively late in the season but struggled to complete the upsets, and it cost them a playoff berth.
9. Carson Senators
The Senators got into the postseason simply by virtue of an eight-team field.
10. Galena Grizzlies
Galena made a late push for the playoffs but finished one game behind Carson.
11. Wooster Colts
The Colts struggled this winter but they did manage to pick up a trio of non-league wins and got past Hug for their lone DI North win of the year.
12. Hug Hawks
It was another one of “those years” for the Hawks.
To view how the rankings adjusted over the course of the season, click here.
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