The final week of the regular season delivered some seismic results across Nebraska girls basketball. A No. 1 team went down, sub-district positioning games produced upsets across four classes, and three undefeated teams survived to carry perfect records into postseason play. Here’s what stood out from Feb. 16-22.
Biggest Upsets
No. 12 Raymond Central 51, No. 1 Lincoln Christian 47 — Class C1
The headline of the week. Raymond Central went into this game as a 17.1-point underdog by rating and handed Lincoln Christian — the top-ranked C1 team — a four-point loss heading into the postseason. Lincoln Christian’s aura of invincibility took a hit at the worst possible time. Raymond Central, meanwhile, enters sub-districts with the kind of confidence you can’t manufacture.
No. 38 Plainview 55, No. 10 Elgin Public/Pope John 48 — Class D1
The biggest rating upset of the week. Plainview carried a 32.1-point rating deficit and won by seven. Elgin Public/Pope John was a top-10 D1 team and got outplayed by a squad most people didn’t have circled. Postseason brackets just got more interesting.
No. 17 North Bend Central 36, No. 4 Omaha Nation 33 — Class C1
A defensive slugfest that ended with a 24.5-point rating upset. North Bend Central held the fourth-ranked team in C1 — a squad averaging 66.0 points per game — to just 33. That’s a defensive masterclass at the right time of year.
No. 26 Southwest 60, No. 6 Arapahoe 57 — Class D1
Southwest caught Arapahoe in a three-point game to close out the regular season. Arapahoe entered as the sixth-ranked D1 team with a 20-win season — Southwest used a 26-point rating gap to fuel what might be the program’s signature win.
Closest Games
No. 13 Scotus Central Catholic 38, No. 14 Pierce 37 — Class C1
One point separated two evenly matched C1 teams in a game that could easily be a sub-district preview. Scotus edged Pierce in a defensive battle — just 75 combined points between two programs that pride themselves on making stops.
No. 3 Milford 44, No. 8 Central City 43 — Class C1
Milford survived by a single point against a Central City team that very nearly pulled the upset. A top-10 matchup decided by one possession — exactly the kind of game that separates postseason contenders.
No. 9 McCool Junction 47, No. 7 Silver Lake 45 — Class D2
McCool Junction flipped the rankings in a two-point win over higher-rated Silver Lake. Both teams enter sub-districts knowing they can play with anyone in D2.
Highest-Scoring Games
No. 2 Alma 84, No. 23 Hershey 48 — Class C2 (132 total points)
Alma put up 84 in a dominant regular-season finale. The second-ranked C2 team has been one of the most efficient offenses in the classification all year at 60.8 per game — this performance was a notch above even that standard.
No. 2 Omaha North 73, No. 9 Lincoln High 56 — Class A (129 total points)
A top-10 Class A matchup that Omaha North controlled from start to finish. Scoring 73 against a top-10 opponent is a postseason-caliber performance.
Undefeated Watch
All three undefeated girls teams survived the final regular-season push and carry perfect records into postseason play.
Bennington (23-0, Class B) holds the state’s highest girls rating at 96.19. District play begins this week.
Bloomfield (23-0, Class D1) sits atop D1 with a 94.50 rating and opens sub-districts as the clear favorite.
Elkhorn Valley (23-0, Class C2) owns a 92.37 rating and heads into C2 sub-districts unbeaten. Their first postseason test comes Friday.
All ratings from the NebPreps Computer Ratings.
