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The Girls Hoops Power 20

The Power 20 is getting a little psychotic. Big changes. No changes. And, now, another big change week with a new No. 1 and two “small class” teams entering the rankings. For six of our 20, the postseason begins on Tuesday with sub-district play in Classes C-1 and C-2.

1 - Bennington (23-0): The Badgers are the beneficiary of Omaha North’s loss to Westside last Saturday. Having seen both teams it’s a certain toss up. It’s just that the Badgers have been perfect and one coach in the Metro has been telling us for four months that the Badgers are the best team in the state. They have six games left to prove it. Last week: 3.

2 - Omaha North (20-4): We keep Omaha North just barely ahead of Lincoln North Star in hopes that we can settle this debate in Lincoln. And also in hope that it is not in the Class A semifinals. Nice win over No. 14 Lincoln Southwest last night. Last week: 1.

3 - Lincoln North Star (20-1): The schedule has slowed down for the Gators since their heart stopping win over Lincoln Southwest in the HAC title game. But it ends with a bang, as they host Pius (new to the top-10) on Tuesday and Millard South (11-9) next Thursday. Last week: 2.

4 - Norris (19-2): A “better than you think it is” win over Omaha Skutt on Tuesday, 41-33 and another good win against Elkhorn North tonight after trailing at halftime. Wonderful Class A test with Power 20, No. 15 Omaha Marian on Tuesday. Last week: 4.

5 - Millard West (16-4): Blew past Omaha South tonight, but a Valentine’s Day date with No. 6 Kearney later today could help decide the second seed at the state tournament. Last week: 5.

6 - Kearney (17-2): A very nice 52-43 win over Bellevue West last Saturday before beating Norfolk on Tuesday. Two road trips now — Millard West and Omaha Westview. Will need at least one to stay in the top-10. Last week: 6.

7 - Omaha Westside (18-5): The Warriors jump into the top-10 with their big 86-82 win over Omaha North last Saturday where Sanai Foster had — wait for it — 30 points and 23 rebounds. Westside has won 10 of their past 11 games after North beat them 73-44 in the Metro quarterfinals. Last week: 12.

8 - Milford (22-1): Postseason time now for the Eagles who defeated Sandy Creek last night in a rematch of the Southern Nebraska Conference finals from last Saturday. The Eagles will host their sub-district next week. Last week: 7.

9 - Malcolm (22-1): It’s 12 in a row for the Clippers heading into the postseason as they dispatched Adams Central on Thursday, 73-50. The lone loss an epic 66-64 game with Milford on January 8th. Last week: 9.

10 - Lincoln Pius X (16-3): A big 52-22 win over Gretna on Thursday and they play Omaha Duchesne tonight before a huge test with No. 3 Lincoln North Star on Tuesday. Last week: 10.

11 - Lincoln Christian (22-1): No better feeling for coach Trey Pittenger and the Crusaders than a conference title followed up by wins over Beatrice and, on Thursday, Class C-2, No. 1 Pender, 56-47. Last week: 13.

12 - Pender (22-2): Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn. Thursday’s loss to Lincoln Christian could be a perfect thing for the Pendragons as they begin their quest for a fourth straight state championship next week. Last week: 8.

13 - Omaha Westview (17-5): Topped Millard North 58-56 on Thursday. Cruised past “watching you” Elkhorn South 69-40 last night. Now, Kearney to finish the regular season next Friday. Last week: 11.

14 - Lincoln Southwest (13-7): Back on track with a 57-43 win over then, No. 18 Bellevue West on Tuesday. Hard to knock down for loss to Omaha North on Friday night. Last week: 14.

15 - Omaha Marian (11-9): The Crusaders are as hot as any team in the state with wins in seven of their past eight games, including victories over Westview, Millard North and Lincoln Southwest. Love the crossover game with No. 4 Norris on Tuesday. Last week: 17.

16 - Gretna East (16-5): The Griffins have won ten in a row after topping Lincoln East last night. They end the regular season at home against crosstown rival Gretna High next Friday, but we hear Weekday is looking forward to the in person scout on Tuesday more than ever. Last week: 19.

17 - Oakland-Craig (20-3): Against our normal conventional thinking, we are putting O-C behind Gretna East even though they own a head-to-head win over the Griffins. Mostly because of the loss to Omaha Nation. They land just ahead of Elkhorn Valley based on last year’s state title game victory. Weird, I know. Just what we think. Last week: NR.

18 - Elkhorn Valley (22-0): It’s time for the Falcons who have six wins over quad one teams and were in the Class C-2 championship game last March. They could do the same thing this year. Last week: NR.

19 - Millard North (13-8): The losses are nothing to be ashamed about this week but will need to beat Lincoln Southeast to stay ranked. At some point, we have to look at their game with Pender and compare it with the two games that Oakland-Craig has played with them. Very little, if any, difference. Last week: 17.

20 - Papillion-LaVista (13-7): As we said last week, the Monarchs likely playing for their ranking next Friday against Lincoln Northeast. Last week: 20.

Watching You (listed alphabetically by class): Bellevue West (10-10), Lincoln High (15-5), Lincoln Northeast (13-6), Millard South (11-10), Gothenburg (18-3), Holdrege (20-3), Omaha Nation (20-2), Alma (22-1).

State Bowling Recap

Familiar faces and fresh names dotted the Nebraska School Activities Association state bowling championships at Sun Valley Lanes and Games in Lincoln as the sport wrapped up its sixth year as a NSAA-sanctioned sport.

Wednesday’s Class A finals matched the same schools in both the boys and girls championships. It was Fremont taking down Grand Island 3-1 in the best-of-5 Baker format on the boys side for its second title, while the Islander girls returned the favor, beating Fremont 3-1 to win their first championship.

On Tuesday, Wayne’s boys were in control from the start against defending Class B champion Lincoln Pius X, winning 3-0 for their second title in four consecutive finals appearances. In the Class B girls competition, Waverly pulled away in the fifth and deciding game to take down Elkhorn 3-2 and win its first bowling title.

READ THE FULL RECAP ON THE NSAA WEBSITE HERE

State Wrestling Duals Recap

The 2026 NSAA state wrestling duals were contested on Saturday, February 7th at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds.

Creighton Prep (Class A) won after opting out of last season’s event. Pierce (Class C) broke through for their first state title in school history in their fourth trip to Kearney. Omaha Skutt (Class B) won their fourth consecutive title and tied Millard South for most championships all time with eight. Burwell (Class D) won their second straight and third in school history.

READ THE FULL RECAP ON THE NSAA WEBSITE HERE

Odds and Ends

• All of the “small class” sub-district girls basketball games are set for next week. You can see all of the matchups here. Class C-1 | Class C-2 | Class D-1 | Class D-2

• Kudos out to the Ralston Rams who ended a 79-game losing streak on Thursday in a 41-24 win over Schuyler. For good measure, the Rams are now on a streak. They topped Boys Town last night, 45-41.

• District wrestling for boys is wrapped up today. The fellas over at NEWrestle have a great DISTRICT HUB page that will give you all the information you need to stay up-to-date.

• Over at nebpreps.com, the masterful Jacob Padilla previewed today’s Heartland Hoops Classic. You can read that here. But if you aren’t coming to the Island we’d ask you to maybe think about changing your plans.

Scheduling

We asked for your best football scheduling graphics and, man, were there some doozies. But, the Stranger Things / Archbishop Bergan reveal took the cake for us. So good. So good.

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