Nebraska Prep Girls Hoops Power 20

We are diving right in this week.

There grueling debate in our mind on whether this Nebraska Prep Girls Hoops Power 20 should wait until the big results of Thursday. But, a Rose Bowl blowout and Sugar Bowl postponement changed our minds.

So, we give it a shot BEFORE the Metro championship (Millard West and Millard North) and the big Lincoln battle between North Star and Southwest tonight. Both games will be able to be accounted for in our next ranking on January 9, before the Nebraska Girls Basketball Showcase next weekend.

So, here we go with our third attempt at the Power 20. Let’s dive in.

1 - Omaha Skutt Catholic (10-0): At 10-0, we keep the Skyhawks on top, but a second tussle with Lincoln Pius on Saturday looms. The Metro winner and the North Star, Southwest winner will be hot on their tail. After winning the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona, they cruised through the Doane Holiday Tournament last weekend. Last ranking: 1.

2 - Lincoln North Star (4-0): The first big test for the Gators is tonight. Last ranking: 2.

3 - Millard West (7-1): Heck of a bounce back from Millard West after the pre-Christmas loss to Bellevue East. Saw them enact a bit of revenge on the Chieftains in Tuesday’s Metro semis 68-52. You know the Gessert twins. You better know Kylee Paben. Now, Yutan transfer Jade Lewis has joined the team just after the semester ended and brings energy and effort on both ends. Last ranking: 4.

4 - Lincoln Southwest (4-0): Nice wins for Southwest so far. A good win over Kearney. Tonight over North Star would be in the great category. Last ranking: 5.

5 - Millard North (7-1): Dead in the water to Millard South in the Metro semis, the Mustangs switch to a trapping, 1-3-1 defense in the fourth quarter and turned a 41-31 deficit into a 56-48 win. They took the lead with 50 seconds left on Concordia commit Sara Harley’s left wing triple. Another crack at Millard West tonight. Last ranking: 6.

6 – Bellevue East (5-2): The Chieftains are talented, play their tails off and are going to cause problems for most of Class A as the season progresses. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them move back up a few spots in January. A five-point game with Millard West the second time around turned on two big Wildcat 3s late in the third quarter. Last ranking: 3.

7 - Lincoln Pius X (9-1): We will know by the end of January if this is the right spot for Pius. The schedule is loaded with fellow Power 20 teams, starting Saturday with a home game against top-ranked Omaha Skutt. Last ranking: 7.

8 – Millard South (6-3): We get to the murky part of the rankings here, but Millard South — YOUNG and impressive — against Millard North gets the nod over a slew of others. We could argue 8-14 coming in about any order. You pick. Last ranking: 9.

9 - Lincoln Christian (9-0): Yes, we saw the Christian result against Milford from Tuesday. That will reward the Eagles more than anything. A deeper look at LC on Saturday when they host Scotus (8-0) and play Gretna East in the Showcase. Last ranking: 10.

10 – Kearney (6-1): Why not for the Bearcats who just keep winning. Isn’t that the goal? Coach Drew Danielson’s first team could be 11-1 heading to Lincoln North Star on January 21st. He’s not looking, but it’s our job to do that. Last ranking: 11.

11 - Gretna East (7-2): Surely winning the deepest conference in Class B should be worth something? The losses are to Pius and Bennington, which they avenged in the EMC final. Last ranking: 13.

12 – Omaha Marian (5-3): Lost a one-point game to Millard South in the Metro quarterfinals or they may be higher than this. Our kicker with Marian is the 20-point loss to Bellevue West before Christmas and how much to factor that in. Last ranking: 8.

13 – Bennington (7-1): The Badgers have a chance for a pretty impressive record when Class B post-season play begins. To stay here, they might have to be 20-2. And it’s certainly plausible. Last ranking: 12.

14 - Omaha Westside (4-4): If the Warriors can hang on to a .500 record in January the table is set for a nice February run to district play. Some big opportunities in January, however. Last ranking: 15.

15 - Papillion-LaVista (5-4): We can argue for Papio South here based on the first round Metro win, but the Monarchs other wins over Bellevue West and Omaha Westside win out. Barely. Last ranking: 14.

16 - Pender (10-0): In a different world, we’d get to see Pender play Omaha Westside, Papio and Bellevue West among others. They deserve a shot. Rolled through the Wayne State Holiday Tournament and have an East Husker doozy with Oakland-Craig on Saturday. Last ranking: 18.

17 - Bellevue West (4-5): The Thunderbirds have been tested and are still upright. Of the five losses, four are to teams ahead of them and the fifth to Park Hill, MO. Wins against 7-1 Omaha Westview in the Metros and a 70-50 blitzing of Marian before the holiday break get them in the rankings. Last ranking: NR.

18 – Milford (6-1): Sometimes you grab our attention with a LOSS. And the Eagles, who had our attention anyway, certainly did that with their 69-67 classic with Lincoln Christian on Tuesday. Now, the Eagles must keep winning starting with a road trip to North Bend on Friday. Last ranking: NR.

19 - Minden (8-0): What is likely to happen in our Class C-1 Coaches Poll over the weekend is that Minden will get jumped by Milford. And, our coaches may not be wrong. But, what if they knew this? In their 8-0 start, the Whippets have given four teams their only loss of the season. Last ranking: 18.

20 - Crofton (10-0): In their 10-0 start, coach Maggie Moon’s Warriors have beat eight teams with a winning record. No days off in Crofton. Last ranking: 19.

Special Mention (listed alphabetically by class): Lincoln High (4-2), Lincoln Southeast (3-3), Omaha Westview (7-1), Papillion-LaVista South (3-4), Seward (6-2), Waverly (5-1), Scotus Central Catholic (8-0), Guardian Angels CC (5-2), Elkhorn Valley (9-0), Oakland-Craig (8-0).

Team of the Week: ELKHORN VALLEY. You don’t just go win the holiday tournament in Battle Creek. You have to earn that one. Coach Brendan Dittmer’s Lady Falcons did just that in defeating the hosts (ranked 8th in Class C-1), 39-37 in the championship game last Saturday.

When it’s rare to find two double figure scorers on a team in Class C-2, the No. 3 Falcons (9-0) have three. Built around 3-point school-record holder Karlee Broberg (14.2 ppg) and 6-2 post JJ Black (13.9), sophomore Cameron Rutjens is also averaging just over 12 points a contest.

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