Winning Season

It’s hard to believe we are nearing “win or go home season” this week. District wrestling. Girls basketball sub-districts. Time for everyone around the whole state to get ready to make winning plays. We’ll be here to watch and share the stories.

Time for a new girls basketball Power 20, football schedules (!!!) a Heartland Hoops Classic preview and quick notes as we hold on for dear life through February and March. As always, if you enjoy the Newsletter we’d love it if you would share with your friends by forwarding this e-mail or sharing a link on social media.

Grab a breakfast beverage!! Let’s dive in.

The Girls Hoops Power 20

The postseason arrives on Tuesday for the smaller classes and we begin to tighten up our Power 20 girls rankings. The sprint to Lincoln is beginning in earnest. Only two more rating after this until the state tournament begins. It goes by quick.

The great thing about these rankings? They will change before we cut the nets down. All records through games played Wednesday night, February 6. 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 - Millard West (19-1): Not much left to say about the ‘Cats. The coaches are firmly behind them being the best team in Class A and they have proved it. If someone is going to knock them off it will take a special effort. Last week: 1.

2 - Elkhorn North (16-1): Three games left including a big on Friday with Norris, which the Wolves beat 47-37 in the Eastern Midlands Conference tournament over the holiday break. Last week: 2.

3 - Lincoln Southwest (16-3): We are now back to “overall profile” in rating the top-10 and Lincoln Southwest — with win over Lincoln Northeast and Lincoln North Star — fits the bill a little more than others. So, it’s the Silverhawks. For now. Last week: 5.

4 - Omaha Skutt Catholic (19-1): Moving the Skyhawks back up this week in reviewing the overall schedule. A big win against Norris on Tuesday and of their 19 wins, 15 of them are over teams currently above .500. Last week: 6. 

5 - Millard North (13-5): Still hanging on here after recent wins over Power 20 foes Papillion-LaVista South and Omaha Westside. The Mustangs lost to Millard West last Friday, but that doesn’t seem to be a reason to drop teams at this point in the season. Last week: 3.

6 - Lincoln North Star (15-3): It’s likely the Gators won’t be here long with three straight games against Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln Southeast and Millard North to end the regular season. They either they prove it, or they don’t. Last week: 4.

7 - Papillion-LaVista South (11-4): The Titans have won 10 of their past 11 games. Crosstown rivaly on Friday, then a week off, before a huge closing weekend with Bellevue West and MIllard West. Last week: 7.

8 - Lincoln Northeast (16-5): Three of their five losses are to Lincoln Southwest, but the Millard North win shines. Just games left with upstart Benson and Lincoln Pius X. Last week: 8.

9 - Bellevue West (12-6): The hottest team in the state has won six in a row and some coaches believe still could be one of the most dangerous teams the state. Last week: 9. 

10 - Lincoln Pius X (13-6): Bolts make a big jump while on a 7-game winning streak that includes last Friday’s win over Lincoln North Star. Plenty of momentum heading into the final week and districts. Last week: 14.

11 - Sidney (21-0): Still unbeaten and heading into a sneaky tough rivalry game with Chadron to end the regular season. In next week’s sub-districts, they could face undefeated Bridgeport. Last week: 11.

12 - Lincoln Christian (18-2): Maybe it was a premature exit for the Crusaders last week. Or maybe we upset them. (Wink) After losing to Grand Island Central Catholic in the Centennial final, they come back to beat Norris and Beatrice. That moves the profile way up. Last week: NR.

13 - Omaha Central (15-5): Wins over Gretna and Fremont to stay the course. Bellevue West on Friday. Last week: 12.

14 - Lincoln Southeast (14-4): A loss to Bellevue West, but bounced back with a win over Omaha Westside, now four sneaky tough games to end the regular season. Last week: 13.

15 - Gretna East (11-6): With a close loss to Lincoln Southwest — a game that went deep to the fourth quarter — the Griffins appear to have the third best Class B profile at this point. The last five could all be wins and huge momentum into the postseason. Last week: 16.

16 - Norris (13-4): Lost two in a row and if they lost a third to Elkhorn North on Friday we are still not sure if they would move much further down. Solid profile for the season. Last week: 15.

17 - Omaha Marian (14-5): The Crusaders back on track with three straight wins. Now, all three Millard’s to end the regular season. Last week: 19.

18 - Omaha Westside (11-10): We know, 10 losses looks like a bunch to be in the ranking. Eight are to teams ahead of them, one to a California team and an early loss to Kearney. A 3-1 finish required to stay in here. Last week: 9. 

19 - Grand Island Central Catholic (19-1): Still only one loss to Lincoln Christian, which was avenged in dramatic fashion. Their spot here dependent on at least a run to the Class C-1 semifinals. Last week: 20.

20 - Crofton (20-0): We were giving strong consideration to putting Pender back in this spot after seeing them in person in the East Husker final. But, with their Tuesday loss to GACC and Crofton’s two wins against the Bluejays it’s time for the Warriors to return off a one-week hiatus.

Fell out: Beatrice, Waverly.

Up Next (listed alphabetically by class): Bellevue East (11-7), Omaha Benson (11-6), Papillion-LaVista (12-5), Beatrice (16-3), Waverly (13-4), Bridgeport (20-0), Minden (16-3), Guardian Angels CC (17-2), Pender (20-1).

Coaches Polls + More

Each week our Tony Chapman will compile the girls basketball coaches poll and Mike Sautter the boys poll for nebpreps 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. (The Newsletter is also a big fan of Jacob’s “Top Performance” tweets.) And, vote for the Pinnacle Bank Game of the Week with Mike Sautter as well.

UP TO DATE: ALL HOOPS THE SCORES: BOYS // GIRLS. Plus, point standings: BOYS // GIRLS. Class C and D sub-district pairings will be released later today.

ODDS AND ENDS: Traditional powers Millard North, Omaha Skutt and David City Aquinas won their respective classes at last weekend, but it was surprising St. Paul that came through a Class C bracket full of parity. Also, we think Nick Rubek is one of the best wrestling writers anywhere. Planning Ahead: The NSAA released football schedules for the 2024-25 football seasons on Wednesday. That meant releasing all those graphics and awesome tweets. Sandy Creek and Fremont Bergan went above and beyond in our eyes. All the schedules in one easy place by class from our friends over at Nebraska HS Football.

Cards Ready For Stretch Run

Despite making a move from Class C-2 up to Class C-1 this season, expectations remained high for coach Kelan Buhr and the Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals basketball team.

After a run to the Class C-2 state tournament, the Cardinals returned all five starters as they embarked on the Class C-1 journey as the smallest school in the class by enrollment.

But, so far, so good for Buhr and his team after they survived a difficult LouPlatte Conference tournament with a championship trophy that included Saturday’s 56-53 overtime win over host Wood River.

FULL STORY ON THE CARDINALS AND A HEARTLAND HOOPS CLASSIC PREVIEW HERE.

The Season: Episode Three

Our third episode of The Season presented by Tom Dinsdale Automotive dropped on Monday. This episode followed the Osceola boys and their Crossroads Conference championship game win over Cross County.

“Let’s go cut some nets down.”

Also, new Facebook page alert.