It’s the heart of the NSAA winter sports championship season and while we know it’s a rare Saturday edition of the Newsletter — yes, it’s not football — it feels like this is the right day to get you caught up on a crazy, cold week of girls basketball subdistricts and throw some recaps your way for the first three NSAA winter championships.

Sit back and find your favorite beverage, or maybe you are still laying in bed giving this one a read. Either way, we apprecate you. If you like it, share with your friends. We’ll be full of content the next four weeks.

Then, we might take a little break. Here we go!!

Nebraska Girls Hoops Power 20

1 - Millard West (23-1): It’s now championship season for coach Marc Kruger’s team. It feels like anything else would be a disappointment. Last ranking: 1.

2 - Millard North (20-3): After a tough loss to Omaha Westview, bounced right back with a 45-44 win over Lincoln North Star. Last ranking: 2.

3 - Lincoln Christian (24-0): Unbeaten heading to a district final against Malcolm. The Clippers' Payton Dolliver might be the best freshman in the state and scored 60 points in two subdistrict wins this week. She’ll need loads of help next Friday. Last ranking: 4.

4 - Omaha Skutt Catholic (22-1): Sub-district time for the Skyhawks, with a likely Power 20 final against Gretna East on Tuesday. Last ranking: 5.

5 – Bellevue East (19-4): Despite a 77-71 loss to Bellevue West last week, the overall body of work keeps them here. And still the only team to beat Millard West this year. That still means something. Last ranking: 3.

6 - Omaha Westview (20-3): After a monumental win over Millard North, they were upset on Senior Night at Elkhorn South. But then held on to beat Kearney 51-47 last night in a very well played game. Last ranking: 6.

7 – Lincoln North Star (16-5): A three spot jump for the Gators, who are 8-1 since January 18th with just a loss to Millard North and a HAC title in their hip pocket. They will be the only Lincoln school that will host a Class A district. Last ranking: 10.

8 - Bellevue West (14-8): It appears most of those young T-Birds aren’t freshmen anymore. From 10-8 to hosting a district in two weeks. Not too shabby. Freshman Stevie Harley has 63 blocks, which, of course, makes it a little easier to play defense. Last ranking: 12.

9 – Millard South (14-9): Wins over Pius and Westside in January keep the Patriots here. As we have noted before, six of seven Nebraska losses all to teams in front of the them. Last ranking: 7.

10 - Lincoln Pius X (19-4): Also sub-district time for the Bolts, who may get a decent test from Norris or Beatrice in their final on Wednesday. But, the goal here is a state title game. Last ranking: 8.

11 - Omaha Westside (14-6): District hosts are based on a good points system and not these silly rankings, so the Warriors are the last host in Class A. They are also 11-2 in 2025. Last ranking: 9.

12 - Gretna East (16-5): If the cold snap caused anyone a bit of heartache, it was Wade Coulter’s Griffins who have missed out on a possible 47-point win against North Platte that was scheduled for Tuesday and could not be made up. Last ranking: 11.

13 – Omaha Marian (12-9): A bummer we didn’t get the grade with Norris on Tuesday due to the weather so the Crusaders may have to surprise their way to Lincoln to move up in the final rankings. Last ranking: 13.

14 - Omaha Central (12-11): A huge week for the Eagles as they topped Lincoln High (59-41, last Saturday) and Lincoln Southwest (57-55, on Thursday). Last ranking: 16.

15 - Lincoln Southwest (15-7): It’s been a tough February for the Silverhawks, but an upset in a district final could fix the mood. Last ranking: 14.

16 – Milford (22-1): Milford’s drop continues only because Class A is a dogfight and teams behind them are coming up with big wins. A 20-point win over Broken Bow in there sub-district final the latest in a string of good wins. Last ranking: 15.

17 - Papillion-LaVista (14-9): Six straight wins for the Monarchs to district play. If the streak reached eight, it’d mean wins over Columbus and Millard North. And a trip to Lincoln. Last ranking: 17.

18 – Kearney (16-5): Still do not a win over a Power 20 team, but competitive losses to Lincoln Southwest and Omaha Westview are going to keep them in the Power 20. For reference, Papio has beat Bellevue West, Omaha Westside and Omaha Central. Last ranking: 19.

19 - Bennington (18-4): As the fourth team in Class B in our rankings, the Badgers will need a run to the state semifinals to keep this ranking. Last ranking: 20.

20 - Pender (24-2): This could raise an eyebrow (or 10), especially if you look at the newspaper class rankings. But one thing is for sure, the Pendragons are unbeaten when Hadley Walsh plays the whole game. And, she’s playing again. Last ranking: NR.

Special Mention (listed alphabetically by class): Norris (13-7), Waverly (17-3), York (21-2), Minden (23-2), Crofton (22-3), Elkhorn Valley (25-0), Johnson-Brock (24-1), Oakland-Craig (22-3), Elm Creek (23-1).

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Centura. The Centurions — 2023 Class D-1 champions and state qualifier last year — moved up to Class C-2 this year. They started the season 3-9. They started the week cold, snowed in and the fourth seed in the C2-8 Subdistrict. Then, they topped Shelby-Rising City on Monday (4:30 tip with the weather), hopped in a caravan to top-seeded Maywood-Hayes Center on Tuesday and won that game 53-46. For good measure, went back to Maywood on Thursday to play second-seeded Hastings St. Cecilia and held on 27-23. Now 15-11, the Centurions will face Crofton next Friday in a district final. GRIT.

COACHES POLL: You can catch the coaches poll each Monday (boys) and Tuesday (girls) over on nebpreps.com as well. Our girls poll on Tuesday will be the final poll before the state tournament.

BOYS SIDE: Sure, we are more girls basketball than boys but we follow that game, too. You can catch an awesome recap of last Saturday’s Heartland Hoops Classic from Jacob Padilla. And a game thread from Class A No. 1 Papio South’s 62-42 win over No. 2 Millard North. Our friends Mike Sautter and Jacob Padilla (and the whole nebpreps crew) cover the boys game better than anyone in the state.

Title Tracking

The NSAA winter championship season is finally here and we have been proud to partner with the Nebraska School Activities Association for preview and recaps of the each championship event. So far, there are three down and four to go with state wrestling duals, bowling and the girls state wrestling championships all in the books.

Boys state wrestling will crown champions later today with the finals broadcast on Nebraska Public Media. State swimming in next Thursday-Saturday with basketball following the next two weeks.

CHAMPIONSHIP RECAPS: State Wrestling Duals | Bowling | Girls State Wrestling