Now that the Nebraska high school girls basketball season is in the midst of subdistrict play, we've decided to crunch the numbers and determine which girls basketball programs have made substantial climbs in our MaxPreps Nebraska Computer Rankings over a year ago.
Having improved its record by a remarkable six and a half games, Niobrara/Verdigre came up the winner after climbing 138 rungs to 62nd in MaxPreps' Nebraska rankings Thursday. Zachary Stauffer's Cougars, who turned in a 9-13 record a year ago, have won 17 of 25 games this winter.
With a Top 10-leading 10.5 game improvement over a year ago, Lincoln Home School jumped a second best 131 spots to 52nd. St. Mary's rose 114 places to climb into the No. 67 spot statewide. Omaha Nation and Millard West round out the Top 5 in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots respectively. Omaha Nation climbed 102 spots to 147th while Millard West improved 101 rungs to 61st.
Every school in this week's Top 10 improved its ranking by at least 84 spots over a year ago. Of this week's Top 10, No. 6 St. Paul is the highest ranked club at No. 22 after climbing 96 spots. No. 7 Elkhorn Valley is ranked 37th this week after climbing 93 rungs.
Every classification in Nebraska is represented in this week's Top 10, except Class B. Hastings Adams Central earns the nod as Nebraska's most improved Class B school, having climbed 36 spots to 12th with a 19-3 record after going 14-9 a year ago.
As you browse through this week's Top 10, each school is listed on the top line along with the number of rungs it improved in Thursday's rankings over its final 2020-21 ranking. Line two is reserved for last year's final MaxPreps Nebraska ranking and the school's final won-loss record in parenthesis while line three lists the school's Nebraska ranking from Thursday and its record to this point in the season.
Nebraska's Top 10 most improved girls basketball teams
1. Niobrara/Verdigre (Niobrara) — +138 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 200th (9-13)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 62nd (17-8)
2. Lincoln HomeSchool (Lincoln, Neb.) — +131 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 183rd (2-5)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 52nd (18-10)
3. St. Mary's (O'Neill) — +114 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 181st (10-11)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 67th (18-6)
4. Omaha Nation (Macy) — +102 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 249th (3-17)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 147th (7-17)
5. Millard West (Omaha) — +101 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 162nd (5-17)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 61st (13-8)
6. St. Paul — +96 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 118th (10-13)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 22nd (20-4)
7. Elkhorn Valley (Tilden) — +93 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 130th (13-9)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 37th (21-4)
8. Parkview Christian (Lincoln) — +90 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 255th (9-14)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 165th (17-8)
9. Arapahoe — +88 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 236th (7-16)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 148th (13-10)
10. Stuart — +84 2020-21 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 230th (7-15)
2021-22 MaxPreps Rating (Record): 146th (12-10)
