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 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.
Kearney Catholic, the top team in this week's Top 10, just happens to be the fourth-ranked team in Class C1 and the No. 16 squad in the entire state of Nebraska in the latest MaxPreps girls basketball rankings, which came out Tuesday.
The Stars have gone 10-5 against a schedule that features 10 teams with winning records, so far this season. Rick Petri's squad has knocked off Class C2 No. 6 Sutton (47-32), Class D1 No. 7 North Platte St. Patrick's (44-33) and Class C2 No. 7 Amherst (49-44).
Kearney Catholic's five losses have come against teams with a 64-10 record collectively, including a pair of narrow losses to Class C2 No. 1 Hastings St. Cecilia who is a perfect 15-0 on the year and the top-ranked club in Nebraska.
Sitting second in this week's Top 10 is Lincoln Christian who is 4-10 so far this winter. The Crusaders have also competed against a slate featuring 10 teams with winning records and knocked off Class C2 Yutan (10-5) 32-30 in early December.
Aurora and Bishop Neumann weigh in at Nos. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Eight of Aurora's 12 foes are on their way to winning seasons while eight of Platteview's opponents have put together above average winning percentages. Class C1 No. 12 Columbus Scotus rounds out the Top 5. The Shamrocks have taken the court against nine winning programs.
Three of the school's represented this week have played their way into the Top 5 of their respective classes while four of this week's Top 10 programs are ranked in their respective classes' Top 10 in MaxPreps Nebraska girls basketball rankings.
Because the larger schools do play stiffer competition on a regular basis, schools competing in Classes C2, D1 and D2 did not make this week's cut. But, we're going to go ahead and look at the top schedule in those classifications as well.
Actually, Class C2's top-ranked Hastings St. Cecilia did tie Wayne for the tenth spot in this week's Top 10. But, Blue Devil foes have produced a higher winning percentage than the Bluehawks and took the tenth spot via the tie breaker. St. Cecilia has played the toughest slate in Class C2 though.
Class D1's David City Aquinas gets credit for banging with Class D1's most brutal slate while Dundy County-Stratton has gone up against Class D2's toughest schedule.
MaxPreps strength of schedule rating was used as the basis for this week's Top 10. In the case of a tie, the team with the highest opponent winning percentage earned the higher ranking.
Check out Nebraska's Top 10 toughest girls basketball schedules below. We have listed the school, the school's record through Tuesday, the opponent's combined won-loss record and winning percentage and MaxPreps' strength of schedule rating as of Tuesday.
Nebraska's Top 10 toughest girls basketball schedule
1. Kearney Catholic (Kearney) — 10-5 | 140-65 | .683 | 12.9
2. Lincoln Christian (Lincoln) — 4-10 | 123-61 | .668 | 10.7
3. Aurora — 3-9 | 106-48 | .688 | 10.6
4. Bishop Neumann (Wahoo) — 5-7 | 106-54 | .663 | 10.5
5. Scotus (Columbus) — 9-6 | 124-68 | .646 | 9.6
6. Pius X (Lincoln) — 10-3 | 89-64 | .582 | 9.4
7. Broken Bow — 11-3 | 108-71 | .603 | 9.0
8. Seward — 1-12 | 89-59 | .601 | 8.9
9. Grand Island Central Catholic (Grand Island) — 11-4 | 104-79 | .568 | 8.9
10. Wayne — 8-9 | 132-83 | .614 | 8.8
