It's pretty automatic during the high school girls basketball season. Basketball fans from all corners of the state login to their computer hoping a player at the school they are loyal to claims one of the lofty spots in one of MaxPreps' statistical categories.
But what about the national standings? Oh, what a coup it would be to find a player at your alma mater sitting alongside national leaders like
Nicole Melious of
Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.),
Brooklyn McCrary of
Monrovia (Calif.) or
Bella Ferguson of
David Crockett (Jonesborough, Tenn.). Heck, landing a spot in the Top 100 would be pretty cool, too.
Well, this week we did the work for you. Scouring through the MaxPreps statistical database, we unearthed the current national landing spot for each of the Cornhusker State's Top 10 girls basketball rebounders.
The Cornhusker State's top rebounder,
Zakiyyah Muhammad of
Benson (Omaha, Neb.), is averaging a whopping 16.7 boards and finds her name listed on the No. 10 spot nationally. Sitting four rebounds on average behind national leader McCrary, Finis Jones' 6-foot forward ranks sixth among all seniors nationally.
Wauneta-Palisade (Wauneta, Neb.) junior
Peyton Cox has rebounded her way into the Top 75 nationally after pulling down 13.6 boards an outing to this point in the season.
Haily Koenen of
South Platte (Big Springs, Neb.) sits 154th with 12.4 rebounds a night.
Lorissa Reiman of
St. Mary's (O'Neill, Neb.) and
Sierra Thomas of
Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) round out the Top 5 with rebounding averages of 11.9 and 11.8 respectively.
Jaelynne Clarke of
Alliance (Neb.),
Tarryn Godsey of
Nebraska City (Neb.),
J.J. Black of
Elkhorn Valley (Tilden, Neb.) and
JoLee Ryan of
Overton (Neb.) are all averaging over 10 rebounds a contest and found their way onto the national rebounding board. Clarke is the only one to find a place in the overall national standings. The other three claimed spots in the Top 200 of their respective grades.
Classes A, B, C2, D1 and D2 are all represented in this week's Top 10. But that does not mean that Nebraska's top rebounders in Class C1 aren't pulling down boards at a high level.
Grace Schlueter of
Logan View/Scribner-Snyder (Hooper, Neb.) leads Nebraska's third largest classification with an average of 9.8 boards a game.
Mia Hunke of
West Point-Beemer (West Point, Neb.) also pulls down more than nine rebounds a contest.
We pulled our rebounding statistics for this week's Top 10 from Thursday's database. As you browse through the Top 10, listed on the top line is the athlete's school and rebounding average while the player's ranking nationally overall, national ranking for their grade and their standing in the Cornhusker State can be found on the second line. The third line is reserved for each member of the Top 10's 2022-23 stat line.
Where do Nebraska's Top 10 girls rebounders rank nationally?
1. Zakiyyah Muhammad, Benson (Omaha, Neb.) – 16.7 ReboundsNationally – 10th | Senior class nationally – 6th | Nebraska – 1st
12.7 points | 0.8 assists | 16.7 rebounds | 3.2 steals | 2.6 blocked shots
2. Peyton Cox, Wauneta-Palisade (Wauneta, Neb.) – 13.6 ReboundsNationally – 74th | Junior class nationally – 23rd | Nebraska – 2nd
14.7 points | 1.5 assists | 13.6 rebounds | 1.5 steals | 1.9 blocked shots
3. Haily Koenen, South Platte (Big Springs, Neb.) – 12.4 ReboundsNationally – 154th | Senior class nationally – 71st | Nebraska – 3rd
12.4 points | 1.2 assists | 12.4 rebounds | 1.9 steals | 0.6 blocked shots
4. Lorissa Reiman, St. Mary's (O'Neill, Neb.) – 11.9 ReboundsNationally – 220th | Junior class nationally – 57th | Nebraska – 4th
10.7 points | 0.9 assists | 11.9 rebounds | 2.1 steals | 0.1 blocked shots
5. Sierra Thomas, Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) – 11.8 ReboundsNationally – 238th | Freshman class nationally – 19th | Nebraska – 5th
15.7 points | 0.5 assists | 11.8 rebounds | 2.1 steals | 1.7 blocked shots
6. Doneelah Washington, Lincoln Northeast (Lincoln, Neb.) – 11.5 ReboundsNationally – 274th | Junior class nationally – 72nd | Nebraska – 6th
17.0 points | 2.3 assists | 11.5 rebounds
7. Jacelyn Jorgensen, Paxton (Neb.) – 11.4 ReboundsNationally – 287th | Junior class nationally – 79th | Nebraska – 7th
9.3 points | 1.2 assists | 11.4 Rebounds | 3.3 Steals | 1.2 blocked shots
8. Mattie Dalton, Fremont (Neb.) – 11.2 ReboundsNationally – 319th | Sophomore class nationally – 63rd | Nebraska – 8th
11.6 points | 1.0 assists | 11.2 rebounds | 1.2 steals | 0.3 blocked shots
9. Zaria Townsend, Buena Vista (Omaha, Neb.) – 11.0 ReboundsNationally – 381st | Freshman class nationally – 33rd | Nebraska – 9th
10.5 points | 0.3 assists | 11.0 rebounds | 0.6 steals | 0.4 blocked shots
10. (tie) Abbi Gibbs, Brownell Talbot (Omaha, Neb.) – 10.8 ReboundsNationally – 420th | Freshman class nationally – 37th | Nebraska – 10th
11.1 points | 2.8 assists | 10.8 rebounds | 3.9 steals | 0.9 blocked shots
10. (tie) Nickie Todd, Gering (Neb.) – 10.8 ReboundsNationally – 421st | Senior class nationally – 183rd | Nebraska – 10th
11.4 points | 0.6 assists | 10.8 rebounds | 1.0 steals | 0.4 blocked shots
