The weather hasn’t fully turned yet but the winter sports season is fully upon us. Teams need a few things: some time to gel, some more practice and to, hopefully, be competing at their best in February and March.

As we gear up for winter sports we will have a special season-long project we will be working on with four Nebraska basketball teams (a bigger announcement next week), we’ll pursue long form stories in all the sports and share them with you here.

And, each Wednesday you’ll get you what you get below (and hopefully more). Our weekly girls basketball Power 20 rankings where our Tony Chapman attempts — you know, give it his best shot — to rank the top-20 teams in Nebraska girls basketball regardless of class.

Thanks for being with us as always, if you find our content fun (and helpful) we’d love for you to share with your friends. Let’s rank ‘em.

The Power 20

Our first crack at the top girls basketball teams in the state with, we hope, proper records through games played last night, December 5. We make these rankings based on conversations with coaches throughout the state, by watching games, and with our gut if we are being honest.

1 - Elkhorn North (2-0): The Class B leader with Nebraska recruit Britt Prince and Colorado State pledge McKenna Murphy have been on this perch since they toppled Class A champion Millard South early last year. Averaging over 75 points through two games.

2 - Bellevue West (2-0): With one of the state’s top returning players in Naomi White, coach Dane Bacon has challenged his team with an impressive schedule. Will play No. 4 Millard North on Thursday and No. 1 Elkhorn North next Tuesday. I guess we’ll see if we are right.

3 - Omaha Skutt Catholic (1-0): Ranked second in Class B by the coaches the Skyhawks have a bunch of weapons. Left the state for a 75-62 win over Kansas City St. Thomas Aquinas to open the year and will play in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona before Christmas.

4 - Millard North (2-0): Got an opening win over perennially tough Lincoln Pius and the 2023 state semifinalists will be tested again on Thursday night against Bellevue West.

5 - Millard West (2-0): After four years of Millard South headlines, it’s North and West now. Juniors Neleigh and Norah Gessert getting plenty of recruiting attention and combining for nearly 38 points through two games.

6 - Lincoln North Star (1-1): A tough 47-43 loss to Bellevue West is not of much concern this early in the season for the Gators, who won’t surprise as many as they did last year.

7 - Omaha Central (4-0): You’ll want to make sure to make an appointment to watch A’Nya Jones and the Eagles before the year is out.

8 - Lincoln Southwest (2-0): Nebraska commit Kennadi Williams is averaging 13.5 points per game and she’s the leader. Coach Tim Barada doesn’t have another senior on the roster.

9 - Lincoln Pius X (1-1): Generally one of the best defensive teams in the state, the Bolts lost to Millard North 47-43 and beat Kearney 41-36.

10 - Lincoln Northeast (1-1): Got 27 points from Doneelah Washington — she’s a special one — in a 57-49 loss to Lincoln Southwest. Will have a chance to run the table prior to the HAC Tournament over Christmas.

11 - Omaha Marian (2-0): Two nice wins to start the year for coach Tvrdy and the Crusaders.

12 - Papillion-LaVista (1-1): Seems a good spot for the Monarchs, who lost to Marian 65-63 on opening weekend.

13 - Bellevue East (2-0): After a perfect opening weekend, they get a Friday-Saturday double with Columbus and Millard West.

14 - Gretna (1-1): Beat Lincoln Southeast in a 36-29 meat grinder and lost 62-58 to Bellevue East.

15 - Lincoln Christian (3-0): An impressive opening week capped with last night’s 52-37 win over Class B, No. 6 Seward.

15 - Waverly (3-0): Two of their first three wins over Class B ranked teams Norris and Blair. The EMC is loaded.

16 - Bennington (3-0): Speaking of the EMC, the Badgers might be the best team we don’t know about yet.

17 - Papillion-LaVista South (1-1): Lost to Millard West 67-31, but get chances against North Star and Marian this week to stay alive here.

19 - Malcolm (3-0): Last night’s win over North Bend Central moves the Clippers here as Halle Dolliver had 27, if they can get 39 from everyone else they will be a difficult out.

20 - Norris (2-1): Titans have bounced back nicely from an opening loss to Waverly with wins over Northwest and Class C-1, No. 8 Wahoo.

Up Next (listed alphabetically by class): Elkhorn South (1-1), Kearney (0-2), Omaha Westside (1-1), Omaha Westview (2-1), Beatrice (2-0), South Sioux City (3-0), Gothenburg (2-0), Bishop Neumann (2-0), Crofton (2-0), Oakland-Craig (2-1), Pender (3-0).

The Rankings

Each week our Tony Chapman will compile the girls basketball coaches poll and Mike Sautter the boys poll over at nebpreps.com with help from coaches around the state. All season long, you can also catch game reports from Jacob Padilla for some of the best basketball content in the state.