Video: Taytem Coleman's highlights vs. Scotus High School
See the Lincoln Christian junior guard in action.
Some Nebraska high school girls basketball teams have taken to heart the cliché, "You've got to beat the best to be the best." And while some programs have met that theory with plenty of success, most have not.
As we dove into our Nebraska high school girls basketball computer rankings and sifted through the strength of schedule data, we discovered that some of the Cornhusker State's premier basketball programs play schedules that match their own level of play.
Lincoln Christian and Bishop Neumann, the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in this week's Top 10, just happen to be ranked in that same order in the latest MaxPreps girls basketball rankings, which came out Wednesday. In fact, those two powerhouses have split a pair of games already this season.
The Cavaliers won in the first go round 69-67 at the Wahoo Holiday basketball tournament in late December, while the Crusaders dished out a little payback 73-56 during Centennial Conference basketball tournament action. Norris also resides in our latest computer ratings at No. 10, while Waverly has put together an 11-7 campaign through Tuesday's action, and holds down the state's third toughest slate to date.
Half of the school's represented this week have played their way into the Top 5 of their respective classification's latest computer rankings, while all but three of them reside in the Top 10 of those same MaxPreps rankings.
Because the larger schools do play stiffer competition on a regular basis throughout the season, schools competing in Classes D1 and D2 did not make this week's cut. But we're going to go ahead and look at the top schedules in those classifications as well.
Class D1's top-ranked Guardian Angels Central Catholic has put together a solid campaign despite playing the most difficult schedule of the Cornhusker State's smaller classifications. Pender and Boyd County tied for the second spot, while Clarkson/Leigh sits fourth.
Class D2 second-ranked St. Mary's gets credit for banging with Class D2's most brutal slate, while Chambers/Wheeler Central and Humphrey St. Francis are right on the tail of the Cardinals in that order.
Check out Nebraska's Top 10 toughest girls basketball schedules below. We have listed the school, (school's record through Tuesday), opponent's combined record and MaxPrep's strength of schedule rating as of Wednesday.
Nebraska's Top 10 toughest girls basketball schedules
1.
Lincoln Christian (Lincoln) (21-1), 290-198, 13.6
2.
Bishop Neumann (Wahoo) (20-2), 300-177, 12.8
3.
Waverly (11-7), 236-140, 12.6
4.
Norris (Firth) (15-5), 252-155, 12.3
5.
Scotus (Columbus) (14-7), 290-178, 11.9
6.
Pius X (Lincoln) (12-7), 226-172, 11.3
7.
St. Cecilia (Hastings) (15-6), 301-172, 11.1
8.
Norfolk Catholic (Norfolk) (4-18), 310-194, 10.6
9.
Boone Central/Newman Grove (Albion) (12-12), 335-207, 10.5
10.
Lincoln Lutheran (Lincoln) (11-12), 300-206, 10.4
