Each week during the high school basketball season, select coaches from the six Nebraska classes rate the teams in their class and our Tony Chapman compiles the rankings.
Here is the tenth in-season poll for the 2023-2024 season, presented by Pinnacle Bank.
Records are for games played through Saturday, February 17.
Class A (Record), Previous
- Millard West (22-1), 1
- Lincoln Southwest (19-3), 2
- Millard North (16-6), 5
- Bellevue West (16-6), 6
- Lincoln Pius X (16-6), 8
- Lincoln North Star (17-5), 4
- Lincoln Northeast (17-6), 3
- Papillon-LaVista South (15-7), 7
- Omaha Central (17-6), 10
- Lincoln Southeast (16-6), 9
Receiving Votes: Bellevue East (15-7), RV; Omaha Marian (15-7), RV.
Comments: Millard West and Lincoln Southwest seem to be the only consistent teams in the rankings. Millard North, Bellevue West and Pius move after wins over North Star, Papio South and Northeast respectively. Bellevue West has won 10 in a row. Some very competitive districts set for this week with finals on Friday.
Class B (Record), Previous
- Elkhorn North (19-1), 1
- Skutt Catholic (22-1), 2
- Norris (16-5), 3
- Gretna East (16-6), 4
- Waverly (16-4), 5
- Beatrice (18-4), 6
- Bennington (15-7), 8
- Seward (15-7), 9
- Elkhorn (15-6), 10
- South Sioux City (14-9), 7
Receiving Votes: Scottsbluff (14-9), RV.
Comments: Elkhorn’s win over South Sioux City caused the bottom four to shuffle with the Cardinals dropping to 10th. The only loss in the top-six was Beatrice’s loss to Waverly.
Class C-1 (Record), Previous
- Bridgeport (24-0), 4
- Lincoln Christian (21-2), 2
- GICC (22-2), 3
- 4. Sidney (23-1), 1
- Minden (19-3), 5
- Broken Bow (18-4), 6
- Gothenburg (19-5), 7
- Adams Central (19-5), 8
- North Bend Central (16-8), 9
- Arlington (21-4), 10
Receiving Votes: Battle Creek (17-5), NR.
Comments: Bridgeport and Sidney flip spots after the Bulldogs pulled off a 40-33 sub-district win over the Raiders. Broken Bow (to Holdrege) and Adams Central (to GICC) were the only other teams to lose in sub-districts. The top-10 are all in finals on Friday with AC, Arlington and Gothenburg, NBC the ranked matchups.
Class C-2 (Record), Previous
- Crofton (23-0), 1
- Elmwood-Murdock (23-1), 2
- Yutan (20-2), 3
- Hastings St. Cecilia (16-4), 4
- Bishop Neumann (17-6), 5
- Bayard (22-3), 6
- Freeman (18-4), 8
- Oakland-Craig (15-5), 9
- Clarkson/Leigh (16-6), 10
- Cross County (22-3), 7
Receiving Votes: none.
Comments: Clarkson/Leigh moves up off a 46-42 win over Cross County in the C2-5 sub-district final. Freeman is at Oakland-Craig in a district final and C/L visits Hastings St. Cecilia.
Class D-1 (Record), Previous
- Guardian Angels CC (20-2), 1
- Pender (24-1), 2
- Southern Valley (25-1), 3
- O’Neill St. Mary’s (21-2), 4
- Johnson-Brock (21-2), 5
- McCool Junction (19-3), 6
- Elgin Public/Pope John (21-2), 7
- Centura (19-6), 9
- Sumner-Eddyville-Miller (20-4), 8
- Maywood-Hayes Center (21-2), 10
Receiving Votes: Amherst (16-7), NR.
Comments: Nine of the top-10 won their sub-district so the only change is Centura edging past S-E-M, who lost to Amherst, which is now receiving votes. Ranked matchups in district finals are Maywood-Hayes Center and EPPJ in Kearney and S-E-M traveling to St. Mary’s.
Class D-2 (Record), Previous
- Overton (24-1), 1
- Falls City Sacred Heart (19-4), 2
- Wynot (19-2), 3
- Sandhills/Thedford (20-4), 5
- Leyton (21-3), 6
- Plainview (17-6), 8
- Wilcox-Hildreth (16-9), 10
- Howells-Dodge (12-10), 7
- Shelton (16-5), 4
- Humphrey St. Francis (14-9), 9
Receiving votes: none
Comments: Some major re-shuffling after six of the top-10 were in just two of the 12 sub-districts. St. Francis topped Howells-Dodge and Wilcox-Hildreth topped Shelton before both winners lost to Wynot and Overton respectively. Plainview will face Wilcox-Hildreth and St. Francis travels to Shelton for district final matchups.
