This Week in Nebraska Girls Basketball-January 26th, 2020

<strong>THE WEEK THAT WAS:</strong>  Alot of high level games this past week continued to help shake things out in some classes, but in some other classes, things got even more confusing.  In Class A, Westside topped Papillion LaVista for the second time in less than a month after beating Millard North the night before, while Lincoln Southwest and Lincoln High continue to move up the wild card standings.  In Class B, Beatrice is making a case for the #2 ranking in the state behind neighbor Crete with an impressive run (in their last run) in the River Cities Conference Tournament, topping Omaha Skutt Catholic, who upset Gross Catholic in the semi-final.  Norris handled York on Tuesday, but then lost to a very solid Oakland-Craig team (more on them later) on Saturday, while York bounced back to knock of North Platte Saturday.  Classes C1 and C2 stayed relatively steady, while Weeping Water and Humphery/ Lindsay Holy Family made a jump with big wins. <strong>THREE THINGS I LIKE:</strong> <ol> <li>Oakland-Craig had a terrific weekend, knocking off Class C1's previously undefeated North Bend Central Friday night, 40-39, then less than 24 hours later handling a solid Norris squad in the Nebraska Prep Classic, 49-40.  <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kennedy-benne/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kennedy-benne/">Kennedy Benne</a></a> had a very good game for the Knights against the Titans, with 26 points.  However, Oakland-Craig is more than a one-woman show, and that depth has set them up to make noise in early March.</li> <li>Beatrice is rapidly gelling and coming together, winning their last five games but an average of 29 points a night.  Carly Leners, a Hastings College commit, has led the way for the Lady O, as it seems that their five returning starters are coming together at the right time.</li> <li>Humphery/ Lindsay Holy Family won one of the more exciting, high scoring games of the season, knocking off BRLD 74-71 in an up and down affair.  Isabel Fremont hit eight 3's for BRLD, while Addison Schneider had 23 and <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/brittney-veik/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/brittney-veik/">Brittney Veik</a></a> 20 for Humphery/ Lindsay Holy Family.  This pace and scoring level is great for high school girls basketball, and we need more games like this!</li> </ol> <strong>PLAYER OF THE WEEK: </strong>As mentioned before, Beatrice will leave the River Cities Conference as girls basketball champions, and Carly Leners is the big reason why.  A four year starter, Lener has done alot for the Lady O program and, in her senior year, she is having her finest campaign.  She averaged 13.5 points per game for the Lady O, and she is a great defensive player and rebounder for a team that has really stepped things up on the defensive end, as they are giving up 31 points a game since the holiday moratorium. <strong>GAME OF THE WEEK –&gt; LINCOLN-OMAHA CORRIDOR:</strong> It will be a battle of West Omaha on Friday night when Millard South travels a few miles to take on the defending Class A state champions Millard North.  The Patriots, who tops the polls in both the Omaha World-Herald as well as the Lincoln Journal-Star, actually fell in the wild card standings this week because their victories were against lower level teams, while Millard North is out of the top seven for the first time all year and need a quality win to try to position themselve to host a district championship game.  You add in the geographical rivalry, and it should be a barn burner Friday night. <strong>GAME OF THE WEEK –&gt; STATE-WIDE:</strong> We have two terrific match-ups state wide this week.  On Tuesday night, Oakland-Craig will hit the road to take on Humphery/ Lindsay Holy Family in what should be a high scoring affair between two quality, small school squads.  Out in Panhandle, the Chadron Cardinals will travel to Sidney to take on the surging Raiders on Friday night.  Sidney, who started out 1-3, has righted the ship and has only lost once since then.  Chadron needs to collect as many quality wins as possible as they remain in contention to host a district championship game. <b>Honorable Mention: </b>Fremont Bergan vs. Kearney Catholic (Tuesday, 1/28), Centennial at Fillmore Central (Tuesday, 1/28), Omaha Westside at Millard West (Friday, 1/31), Millard West at Lincoln East (Saturday, 2/1), Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament (all week; Bennington and Elkhorn are top two seeds), Centennial Conference Tournament (all week; Hastings St. Cecilia, Lincoln Christian and Grand Island Central Catholic competing), Southwestern Conference (Broken Bow and Ogallala are top seeds) CLASS A ELITE EIGHT: Millard South, Lincoln East, Westside, Papillion LaVista, Millard North, Fremont, Lincoln Pius X, North Platte CLASS B ELITE EIGHT: Grand Island Northwest, Crete, Blair, Beatrice, Scottsbluff, Bennington, Sidney, York CLASS C1 ELITE EIGHT: Broken Bow, North Bend-Central, Lincoln Chrisitan, Milford, Ogallala, Malcolm, St. Paul, Chadron CLASS C2 ELITE EIGHT: Hastings St. Cecilia, Crofton, Ponca, Grand Island Central Catholic, Guardian Angels Central Catholic, Oakland-Craig, BRLD, Superior CLASS D1 ELITE EIGHT: CWC, Weeping Water, Pleasanton, Dundy County-Stratton, Humphery/ Lindsay Holy Family, South Platte, Fremont Bergan, Pender CLASS D2 ELITE EIGHT: Falls City Sacred Heart, Loomis, Humphery St. Francis, Wynot, BDS, Sterling, Lawrence-Nelson, Mullen