New Year, New Look

The new year comes and we are excited to announce some changes to our Newsletter over the next week. We will be re-branding the newsletter and our social media channels to be called Harvest Sports from Flatwater Sports. 

This move will allow us to expand some of our content offerings, our social media presence and eliminate any confusion with other Nebraska media outlets. We are excited about this change.

As for you, the reader? No need to change anything — you are still subscribed to our newsletter and, while our social media channels will soon change handles, if you are following us you still will be when we change over as well.

The Girls Hoops Power 20

The Power 20 is ready to barrel into 2024 and keep you updated until the state tournament hits in (gulp) late February this season. We took in all eight games at the Nebraska Girls Basketball Showcase last Saturday and you’ll see a few of those teams in the rankings below.

The great thing about these rankings? They will change before we cut the nets down. All records through games played last night, January 9th. 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 (10-0): The Wolves have now solidified their spot as the top team with their 71-53 win over then, No. 4 Omaha Skutt on Saturday. A ho-hum 42 points for Nebraska pledge Britt Prince. Last week: 1.

 2 - Millard West (11-0): The ‘Cats have the best Class A resume with a win over Omaha Central last Wednesday in the Metro finals and one over Millard North in the semis. A rematch with Central this Friday looms. Last week: 2.

3 - Millard North (9-2): Mustangs bounced back from their loss to Millard West, with a win over Omaha Central. They visit Gretna and Lincoln Northeast this week. Last week: 6.

4 - Lincoln Southwest (9-0): The Silverhawks fall a spot after a 40-37 loss to Lincoln Southeast that followed their HAC Tournament title. To stay here, they’ll need an unbeaten weekend against North Start and Omaha Central. Last week: 3.

5 - Omaha Central (11-2): A big weekend ahead for the Eagles with two monster home games — Friday with Millard West and Saturday with Lincoln Southwest. Last week: 5.

6 - Omaha Skutt Catholic (10-1): The Skyhawks drop after the loss to Elkhorn North. After a game with Bellevue West on Thursday, they still have Pius and Omaha Central before the month is out. Will need to win all three to stay here, it seems. Last week: 4. 

7 - Lincoln North Star (7-2): Bounced back from HAC semifinal loss to Southwest with two wins. Now, they have a chance at them again on Friday night. Last week: 7.

8 - Lincoln Northeast (9-2): A night after Lincoln Southeast defeated No. 4 Southwest, the Rockets handed them a 56-51 setback. A Saturday date with Millard North will be a nice measuring stick. Last week: 8.

9 - Lincoln Pius X (6-3): Add the Bolts to the list of teams with big weekends ahead as they travel to Southeast on Thursday and then to Omaha Westside on Saturday. Last week: 9.

10 - Omaha Westside (9-4): Topped Elkhorn South last week, but will face Papillion-LaVista South (7-4) and Pius this weekend. A chance to move up with a win over the Bolts.. Last week: 10. 

11 - Bellevue West (6-4): Still a tough team to grade, but the Millard North win early looms large. The next six games will give us a litmus test, starting with Skutt and Bellevue East this week. Last week: 11. 

12 - Sidney (11-0): Man were the Raiders impressive on Saturday in a 57-54 win over Lincoln Christian (then, No. 1 in Class C-1). Nebraska track pledge Karsyn Leeling will make any coach look good. But, the Raiders have to keep winning. Last week: NR

13 - Lincoln Christian (10-1): It seems wrong to move the Crusaders too much after the loss to Sidney, but they need to keep winning too. Last week: 12.

14 - Omaha Marian (8-2): An upfront eye test last weekend with the Crusaders leaves them here, despite the Class A record. They had a tough time putting away Class B York in Kearney. The other problem? Not much chance to move up until their final six games when five are against teams above them. Last week: 13.

15 - Lincoln Southeast (6-3): While they beat Omaha Marian early in the season an opening loss to 4-7 Gretna still holds a little weight. The profile would move past Marian with a weekend sweep of Papio and Pius. Last week: 16.

16 - Norris (7-2): Going to need to win six in a row to stay here and then it’s a full gauntlet that will truly test the Titans in early February. Last week: 17.

17 - Papillion-LaVista (7-3): Could up their profile in a nice ratings game with Lincoln Southeast this weekend. Last week: 14.

18 - Beatrice (10-1): Impressed enough with Beatrice against Kearney in the Showcase on Saturday to move them back in the rankings. That said, will need to have some dominating wins over the next few weeks to stay here. Bellevue East and Omaha Benson can jump back in. Last week: NR.

19 - Crofton (13-0): Maggie Moon’s Warriors had their first game that was within 10 points last week when they outlasted Class C-1, No. 9 Battle Creek (10-1), 45-38. They’ll need to keep winning in big fashion to stay here as well. Last week: 19.

20 - Pender (12-0): Pender just keeps racking up impressive wins and the latest was at the Showcase in Kearney when they upended Class C-2, No. 7 Yutan (8-2), 53-47. We have a feeling that may start to look better and better in a few weeks. Last week: 20.

Fell out: Bellevue East, Omaha Benson.

Up Next (listed alphabetically by class): Bellevue East (5-5), Papillion-LaVista South (7-4), Bennington (8-3), Gretna East (6-5), Waverly (7-3), Bridgeport (11-0), Grand Island CC (11-1), Minden (9-2), Guardian Angels CC (12-1).

Polling (and a Milestone)

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. 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

800: There weren’t too many games across Nebraska high schools last night, but one caught our eye. Stuart 63, Chambers-Wheeler Central 41. The win, for Stuart boys coach John Miller was career win No. 800. After his 700th win at Southern Valley — eight years ago — Tony Chapman caught up with him for a few stories. You can read it here. 

The Season: Episode One

Our first episode of The Season presented by Tom Dinsdale Automotive dropped on Monday night. This episode took in a holiday practice with the Heartland and tracked the Adams Central girls buzzer beating win over Boone Central in their holiday tournament.

You can catch the full episode below, or on YouTube here.

Something Arbitrary