Only Three Omaha HS Basketball Teams Make Action Force’s Top Ten
Class C Chadron Enters List At No. 9 Followed By Another Newcomer, Norfolk, At No. 10
By Will Cummings
myHitNews.com
Alright’ y then! Only–three–Omaha teams in Action Force’s Top Ten! Wow! Talk about a wide open Class A title chase—here it is in living color, people.
This week Action Force is definitely in tune with what it will take for one of these Class A teams to win the state title: Good play from the team’s big man. In a wide open fairly even race for the title like this, the one thing that traditionally separates the conquerors from the conquered is the play they get inside, down the stretch in district and state tournament time, from the big men.
Class C Chadron basketball: What do you know, we talked about them last week as making the Contender list and this week here they are still undefeated and ranked at No. 9. What a wild year indeed! And after holding a Contender spot for the past several weeks, Norfolk has finally found its way to the Ten at No. 10.
Hold on to your seats everybody, with only about a week left in the season, Class A is—totally– up for grabs.
-
Action Force’s Top 10
Nebraska High School Basketball Teams
(week ending February 15, 2009)
Rank, Team, (Record), Last Week’s Rank
1. Lincoln Southwest (18-2) 1
Heading into district play, the Silverhawks continue to flex their muscle atop the standings. Junior Jordan Tyrance a is one of the top athletes in the state and he is just one of the reasons why the Silverhawks are such an athletic team, but for Southwest to take home the state Class A crown they will need big man Jake Marvin to consistently play up to his full potential down the stretch run. 2. Omaha Creighton Prep (15-4) 3
The Jays are starting to get back to old form for Coach Luedtke. We all know about the great play the Jays get out of their guard position from Steffensmeir and Hook and the sharpshooting of Taylor Stormberg--those guys will have to continue to play good. However, come district and state play, senior post man Brett Potter will have to step up BIG TIME for the Jays to win the state championship. 3. Lincoln East (13-5) 4
They’ve hung around the bottom half of the Top Ten all year but coming off the big win over Omaha Central the Spartans are thriving under the senior leadership of Drew Sankey 4. Lincoln High (11-6) 5
A preseason favorite is just starting to scratch the surface of there potential—at just the right time. In order for Coach Uhing to get to the state tournament or bring home the trophy he’ll need his son, Pete, and Mike Partee to play lights out and get solid play off the bench. 5. Omaha Central (13-3) 3
Do yourself a favor: don’t let Central’s No.5 ranking fool you. Do not count out Coach Behrens‘ Eagles! This team is the most athletic team in the state, as all-state candidate Deverell Biggs, a junior, continues to lead the team while getting solid guard play out of Sean McGary and Ted Lampkin. The Eagles only inside presence, Paul Simms, will need to play his best basketball down the stretch to get the Eagles the 4-Peat 6. Lincoln Southeast (14-5) 7
With their win over Omaha Burke, Coach Jeff Smith proves again why he is one of the top coaches in the state. The Knights repeatedly played clock management and did a great job of milking the clock moving the ball and always getting an open look: This team can shoot too!! 7. Lincoln Northeast (12-5) 10
Still many are skeptical about the Rockets because of there inability to beat a top tier team–but they’ve been close. Rocket fans are hoping that breakout game comes in district play. And as long as they have Dol Kutey, don’t count them out! 8. Omaha Bryan (15-6) 8
The Bears thrive off their youth with Gullie, Jiech, Augustine, but they’ll need seniors Tiit Kuek and Zach Martin to play great to get them back into the state tournament. 9. Chadron (19-0) NR
sure they’re class C but they are undefeated and have beaten every team on their schedule to this point, and don’t forget about Elliot Eliason the Center who has gathered division offers already. 10. Norfolk (13-5) NR
Norfolk a relatively young team has been sitting just outside the top 10 all year. Now they finally enter at the 10 spot a week before district play. Contenders
Bellevue East, Omaha Burke, Omaha Benson and Bellevue West
Top 25 Prospects '08/'09
