High school basketball: Nebraska's dominant boys programs over the past decade

In a tight race, Omaha South edged Bellevue West and previous king Omaha Central as the most dominant high school boys basketball program in the Cornhusker State over the past decade.

Omaha Central and Creighton Prep were the only schools to score points in all 10 MaxPreps Nebraska season ending Top 25 basketball rankings and led the state with 166 and 161 Top 25 points, respectively. But when it came to scoring points through championship game appearances, Omaha South and Bellevue West took over.

The Packers and Thunderbirds won two state titles each and finished as runners-up twice in outscoring Omaha Central 60-50 in state championship points to finish above the rest of the field with 219 and 217 points respectively. The Eagles finished with 216 total points to finish third after making three trips to the state finals while Creighton Prep dropped to fourth with 201 points.

Class B power Omaha Skutt Catholic, the first basketball program below Class A to climb into this week's Top 10, sits fifth with 169 points while cross-town rivals Wahoo and Bishop Neumann climb into the Nos. 6 and 7 spots with 149 and 139 points respectively.

Classes A, B and C1 are all represented in this week's Top 10. Hastings St. Cecilia is the highest ranked Class C2 squad after scoring 112 points and finishing 13th in the standings. Lourdes Central Catholic leads the way in Class D1 after accumulating 71 points to finish 26th out of the 111 schools that earned points this week while the Irish of Falls City Sacred Heart climbed into the No. 19 overall position with 81 points to lead Class D2.

Beatrice (Class B), Papillion-LaVista (Class A), St. Cecilia (Class C2), Millard North (Class A), Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast (Class C1) and Norfolk (Class A) all missed out on the Top 10 despite accumulating 100 points or more.

MaxPreps has developed its own system in determining which boys basketball programs compete at the highest level over an extended period of time. Here is how the points for this week's Top 10 were accumulated:

1. 20 points for a state title

2. 10 points for finishing as a state runner-up

3. Other points are based on a team's Top 25 standing in the final MaxPreps Nebraska Computer Rankings presented by the Army National Guard. For instance, if a school claimed the top spot, it received 25 points, while a No. 25 ranking is good for one point.
Nebraska's dominant boys basketball programs over the past decade

1. Omaha South (Omaha) — 219 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2011-12 (6), 2012-13 (2), 2013-14 (5), 2014-15 (2), 2015-16 (3), 2016-17 (13), 2018-19 (2), 2019-20 (16).

2. Bellevue West (Bellevue) — 217 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 2
Top 25 state rankings: 2011-12 (13), 2012-13 (9), 2013-14 (1), 2014-15 (3), 2017-18 (17), 2018-19 (3), 2019-20 (2), 2020-21 (3).

3. Omaha Central (Omaha) — 216 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2011-12 (1), 2012-13 (1), 2013-14 (4), 2014-15 (8), 2015-16 (23), 2016-17 (11), 2017-18 (5), 2018-19 (9), 2019-20 (10), 2020-21 (22).

4. Creighton Prep (Omaha) — 201 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2011-12 (25), 2012-13 (6), 2013-14 (13), 2014-15 (1), 2015-16 (11), 2016-17 (9), 2017-18 (2), 2018-19 (7), 2019-20 (17), 2020-21 (8).

5. Skutt Catholic (Omaha) — 169 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 1
Top 25 state rankings: 2013-14 (8), 2014-15 (24), 2015-16 (7), 2016-17 (23), 2017-18 (6), 2018-19 (8), 2019-20 (1), 2020-21 (12).

6. Wahoo — 149 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2011-12 (23), 2012-13 (8), 2016-17 (20), 2017-18 (3), 2018-19 (21), 2019-20 (14), 2020-21 (14).

7. Bishop Neumann (Wahoo) — 139 points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2011-12 (17), 2013-14 (11), 2014-15 (19), 2015-16 (2), 2016-17 (2).

8. Gretna — 135 points
State titles: 2
Runner-ups: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2012-13 (14), 2014-15 (16), 2015-16 (1), 2016-17 (1), 2017-18 (13), 2018-19 (16).

9. Scottsbluff — 125 points
State titles: 1
Runner-ups: 3
Top 25 state rankings: 2011-12 (5), 2012-13 (24), 2015-16 (10), 2016-17 (6), 2017-18 (25), 2019-20 (11).

10. Auburn — 121 points
State titles: 3
Runner-ups: 0
Top 25 state rankings: 2018-19 (11), 2019-20 (4), 2020-21 (2).