IAAM A and C Conference Playoff Previews

The IAAM season has flown by and the 2026 Playoffs have arrived. The C conference championship game will be the grand finale on Saturday at 6pm at Howard Community College. Maryvale Prep has been dominant in league play and they have posted an impressive 18-2 overall record. They played some good competition in the DMV Hall of Fame Showcase and the Public vs. Private Challenge so they are battle tested. They feature a trio of solid players in Rhian O’Connor, Cayden Reese and Maddie Moran who are all athletic and talented players. Everything with Maryvale starts with their defense as they have been able to stifle most of their opponents’ offensive attacks. Garrison Forest has been solid as well and has secured the two seed with an 8-2 overall record. Round one will see Annapolis Area Christian as the favorites against Beth Tfiloh and Concordia Prep should have the edge against the Park School.

The A Conference has been crazy competitive this season with multiple splits between teams and not a lot of games that went down to the wire. St. Frances has secured the top seed and are the favorites to win the whole thing-again. They have senior Dahni Suggs in the paint and she is playing her best ball of the season right now. Senior guards Mone’t Edwards and Chloe Mills will provide leadership and stability while freshman guard Khloe Ison brings a ton of swagger and explosiveness to the court. They will be hard to beat.

St. Mary’s has the second seed secured and they are going to be hard to beat. Their whole attack is centered around seniors Alexandra Vandiver and Bailey Harris , two D1 players with tremendous offensive skillsets. A third player will have to emerge as a serious threat and my bet would be on sophomore guard Casey O’Hare to come through. She has been a steady ball handler all season and has knocked down some big shots when needed.

St. Vincent Pallotti and Archbishop Spalding split a pair of games that went right down to the wire this season. They will meet for a third time and I expect another close game. Pallotti is led by a trio of guards in Jordan Carey , Lynan Meadows and Logan Clifton who are all capable of getting hot and tilted a game in their favor. Their biggest advantage is in the middle with senior center Arianna Harris-Mott who can dominate defensively like no other player in the league. Spalding will counter with sophomore Vanesa Flood who might end up being the best player on the court. The versatile wing can alter a game on both ends of the court and she’ll get plenty of help from juniors Eden Berry and Jaelyn Peters who have been solid down the stretch.

St. Timothy’s has been hot down the stretch of the season and they have been led by freshman guard Dream Clark who has shown a lot of poise and the ability to get buckets while junior guard Zeynup Cakmak has been a dangerous scoring threat all season. They have size and length with three six footers on the roster so they will be a tough opponent for McDonogh.

The Eagles of McDonogh are led by Jada Russell who is one of the better scoring guards in the league. I expect senior guard Ari Benjamin to come up big with scoring and leadership and the Eagles should get a big boost from their sister tandem of freshman Losi Faimanifo and junior Kiri Faimanifo who will provide interior size and toughness. This should be a game that is decided by single digits and is competitive the whole way.