Nebraska's Top 10 high school boys basketball games for February

As Nebraska high school basketball prepares to enter the postseason drive of the 2014-15 season, there are plenty of big-time battles up on the docket in February, beginning with Class A's No. 3 Omaha South at No. 4 Bellevue West.

Schools in all six classifications are scheduled to compete in basketball games that could easily fall into the Top 10.

Below is a look at the top-ranked basketball games in Nebraska in February.

1. Class A No. 3 Omaha South (16-2) @ Class A No. 4 Bellevue West (15-5)
Feb. 21
Two of Nebraska's big-school powerhouses will place a lot of talent on the basketball court in this one. Returning first team all-state player Malik Hluchoweckyj leads the way for the Thunderbirds, while the Packers counter with Makoor Arop and Aguek Arop. It should be a great ending to the 2014-15 regular season

2. Class B No. 4 Elkhorn South (13-4) @ Class C1 No. 2 Scotus (Columbus) (16-3)
Feb. 14
Returning first team all-state selection Johnny Trueblood leads Elkhorn South in this one. The Shamrocks will take the court with a returning all-state selection of their own in Grant Lahm. It may take the rest of the two rosters to determine this outcome.

3. Class D1 No. 8 Lourdes Central Catholic (Nebraska City) (17-5) @ Class C2 No. 2 Archbishop Bergan (Fremont) (13-5)
Feb. 14
If big man battles are your thing, you'll enjoy this one. Bergan's Adam Dykman, a returning first team all-state selection, is one of the state's top scorers at 23.4 points a game. But he also pulls down 12 rebounds and blocks three shots an outing. Central Catholic's Noah Vasa's nightly line looks something like this: 18.7 points, 13 boards and 6.7 blocks.

4. Class A No. 8 Lincoln Northeast (15-4) @ Class A No. 2 Norfolk (19-0)
Feb. 20
The Panthers are getting oh so close to an unbeaten regular season. Although they are on the road, the Rockets are preparing to put at least one blemish on Norfolk's now clean mark. Tyler Hagedorn and Logan Strom will have a big say in this outcome for Norfolk, while Ryan Garver and Tyson Shadegg lead the Rockets.

5. Class C1 No. 17 Chadron (14-5) @ South Dakota Class A No. 10 Red Cloud (Pine Ridge, S.D.) (12-3)
Feb. 19
Chadron heads north over the South Dakota state line for this battle. And who doesn't love a good border battle? Vonsinh Sayaloune scores 16.9 points for Chadron, while Kobey O'Rourke scores 16.7 for the Crusaders.

6. Class C2 No. 10 Twin River (Genoa) (17-5) @ Class D1 No. 3 St. Francis (Humphrey) (19-2)
Feb. 20
Twin River has won six of the last 11 battles between these two powerhouse programs, including the last four. Between them the Flyers and the Titans have won 365 games collectively during that time frame, putting together a .729 winning percentage. Only once has either team finished below .500. While there have been blowouts in this series, the average score comes out 55-52 in favor of St. Francis. This is a great matchup in preparation for the postseason, for both teams.

7. Class C2 No. 8 Cedar Catholic (Hartington) (13-6) @ Class C2 No. 4 Battle Creek (16-5)
Feb. 12
Hartington Cedar Catholic's James Kaiser meets Zach Bellar and Jared Bellar in this one. Toss in the fact that this is a large Mid-State Conference tussle and you get one whale of a ball game.

8. Class D1 No. 6 Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (Bruning) (19-2) @ Class D1 No. 2 High Plains (Polk) (19-1)
Feb. 13
Class D1 No. 6 Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (19-2) @ Class C2 No. 1 St. Cecilia (Hastings) (18-1)
Feb. 14
Sitting fifth in the D-1 wild card standings at the moment, a win in either or both of these contests would go a long way toward securing one of the two automatic bids to the Nebraska state basketball tournament for the Eagles. What a feather in the cap that would be in knocking off these two giants on back-to-back nights.

9. Class D1 No. 5 Amherst (18-2) @ Class D2 No. 3 Wilcox-Hildreth (19-1)
Feb. 20
Both of these basketball teams figure to be in the running for basketball hardware come March. Between them the Broncos and the Falcons are a combined 35-3 this year and rely on balance to get the job done. Breyden Eckhout leads the way for Amherst, while Wilcox-Hildreth counters with Matthew Hinrichs.

10. Class D2 No. 2 Spalding Academy (14-3) @ Class D2 No. 6 Riverside (Cedar Rapids) (14-6)
Feb. 12
Second-team all state returnee Brandon Stevens leads the way for Spalding Academy in this one, while the Chargers will hit the floor with the likes of Collin Martinsen, Noah Valasek and Tanner Hudson, who between them, average almost 51 points an outing this season.

Honorable Mention
Feb. 12 - Class C1 No. 4 Grand Island Central Catholic (17-4) @ Class C2 No. 1 Hastings St. Cecilia (18-1).
Feb. 13 - Class C2 No. 2 Archbishop Bergan (13-5) @ Class C1 No. 1 Bishop Neumann (16-3).
Feb. 17 - Class B No. 7 Omaha Skutt Catholic (13-6) @ Class B No. 2 Gretna (18-2), Class D2 No. 10 Anselmo-Merna (16-4) @ Class C1 No. 6 Ainsworth (18-1), Class A No. 12 Papillion-LaVista South (10-9) @ Class A No. 8 Lincoln Northeast (15-4).
Feb. 19 - Class A No. 9 Omaha Westside (9-9) @ Class A No. 7 Lincoln High (16-3).
Feb. 20 - Class B No. 6 Seward (15-4) @ Class B No. 9 Crete (13-6), Class D1 No. 10 Boyd County (13-6) @ Class D1 No. 1 Clearwater-Orchard (19-1), Class A No. 9 Omaha Westside (9-9) @ Class A No. 1 Omaha Creighton Prep (18-2).
Feb. 21 - Class B No. 5 Scottsbluff (14-4) @ South Dakota Class AA Rapid City Central (7-7).