The Register-Guard has identified 10 girls basketball players who defined the Eugene-Springfield area, a list built around the stars who left their mark in high school and, in some cases, long after. The selection is part of the paper’s push to honor the hardwood after earlier recognizing Lane County’s greatest football stars.

Kristina Andersen stands near the top of that group. The Marist guard was a three-time Class 3A first-team all-state selection, led the Spartans to state titles in 1996 and 1997 and was named the 3A player of the year after her senior season in 1997. She was also tabbed by both and Street & Smith's as an All-American in 1996 before going on to play four years at the University of Utah.

Andersen’s college career gave the list more weight. As a senior in 2000-01, she was Utah’s second-leading scorer on a team that went 28-4 and reached the Sweet 16. That kind of résumé is part of why the list does not read like a simple high school honor roll; the story says college and professional careers also helped shape the top 10.

Lexi Bando brings a different kind of résumé to the group. The Willamette High star was a four-year starter at the University of Oregon and finished her career as the program’s all-time leader in 3-pointers and 3-point percentage. In high school, she led Willamette to state championships in 2013 and 2014, was a three-time Class 5A first-team all-state selection and earned the 2014 5A player of the year honor after averaging 20.5 points per game as a senior. She scored 1,975 points in high school, a total that still jumps off the page.

Keani Christianson and Wendy Gabbe also show how broad the field is. Christianson was a three-time all-state forward at North Eugene, earned first-team recognition in the state’s highest classification in 1998 and finished her high school career with 1,609 points. She spent two seasons at North Carolina State before finishing her college career at Pepperdine, where she averaged 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds as a senior in 2002-03.

Gabbe helped South Eugene win the 1999 Class 4A state championship, a 24-1 season in which she was the team’s lone first-team all-state selection. She averaged 14.5 points and six rebounds per game that year before going on to play four years at the University of California, Irvine. The list also reflects the paper’s invitation to readers to vote and submit names of players left off the top 10, a reminder that local basketball history in Eugene-Springfield is still being debated one name at a time.