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Never is a long time. And we shouldn't think of growing pains as a total negative, just a reality of growing a sport. Growth will occur, then skills will follow.
In our area, lots of girls start thinking about HS ball while they are in MS, some well before that. There are so many opportunities to play high level ball that the serious ones pick up with a club and play travel ball. Every HS ends up with several girls that have at least AAU B team experience, and many will have at least 1-2 A-level players. Even the B level players have played against A teams numerous times and are ready to handle the speed and skill (and defensive pressure) that player of this caliber bring to a game.
Yesterday, I watched a sub-500 HS team play one of the top teams in the area, and they actually were able to hang with them for a while. They were blown out, but no worse than a guys' mismatch game would produce. The level of players was clearly different between the two teams, but the girls on the weaker team could handle the pressure, beat the press, run offense, etc. They just were a step slower and slightly less talented. They rushed a few more shots, had trouble getting good looks, etc., but they could play the game and it still looked like basketball.
The complete mismatches where a team gets only 1 or 2 points are usually cases where a school has no players with any high level experience coming in, and they cannot possibly handle a quick, skilled team defense. They cannot begin to figure out how to beat one defender at that level, let alone a team of great defenders. They also do not transition well and find themselves chasing a team that is doing an unopposed full-court layup drill the whole game.
I am convinced that across the country, opportunities for early high level play will continue to expand and you will see less situations where schools are completely overmatched. Until then, consider it just a necessary component of growing a sport. Not bad, not good, just reality.
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