Heartland PrepBasketball Scoop

Class A Girls

State Tournament

2026 Class A Girls State Basketball Preview

By Dean Backes

March 2, 2026

5 min read

Class A Girls State Basketball Preview

It's ladies up first in Nebraska when it comes to putting on the show that decides which basketball programs take home the championship hardware. While many of the same programs are back in the hunt, there are no guarantees when it comes to March Madness.

Four rematches kick off the Class A field Wednesday. Defending Class A champion Millard West opens with Omaha Westside after knocking the Warriors off 55-48 earlier in the year while Millard North hopes to exact a little revenge on Lincoln North Star. North Star upended the Mustangs 60-46 during regular season play.

Kearney and Lincoln Southwest square off once again Wednesday after splitting regular season bouts. The Bearcats edged Southwest 52-38 in December before falling to the Silver Hawks 40-38 in late January.

Omaha North and Omaha Westview will also be facing off for the third time this season when they tip off Wednesday. The Wolverines claimed a 71-57 triumph in the season opener before the Vikings got revenge 56-43 in early January.

Picking the Field for Class A

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Lincoln North Star (24-1) over No. 8 Millard North (15-9)

No. 4 Millard West (20-4) over No. 5 Omaha Westside (22-5)

No. 3 Kearney (20-3) over No. 7 Lincoln Southwest (16-8)

No. 2 Omaha North (24-4) over No. 6 Omaha Westview (20-5)

Semifinals

No. 1 Lincoln North Star (25-1) over No. 4 Millard West (21-4)

No. 2 Omaha North (25-4) over No. 3 Kearney (21-3)

Championship

No. 1 Lincoln North Star (26-1) over No. 2 Omaha North (26-4)

Dark Horse

Omaha Westside

Hottest to Coolest Teams

Lincoln North Star – 10 Straight Wins (Won 24 of last 25 Games)

Omaha Westside – 10 Straight Wins (Won 14 of last 15 Games)

Omaha Westview – 10 Straight Wins (Won 12 of last 13 Games)

Millard West – 7 Straight Wins (Won 10 of last 12 Games)

Omaha North – 6 Straight Wins (Won 22 of last 23 Games)

Kearney – 3 Straight Wins (Won 7 of last 10 Games)

Lincoln Southwest – 3 Straight Wins (Won 9 of last 13 Games)

Millard North – 1 Straight Loss (Won 5 of last 10 Games)

Scoring Leaders

Kylee Paben

Millard West

19.4

Hallie Garner

Kearney

17

Mia McKenzie

Millard North

16

Kaytee Irons-Buettner

Lincoln Southwest

14.5

Justine Tcheuhchoua

Omaha North

14.4

Ani Leu

Lincoln North Star

14.2

Stella Williams

Omaha Westview

13.5

Jayah Freeman

Omaha Westside

12.1

Eleanor Griffin

Lincoln Southwest

11.7

Kalaya Catron

Omaha Westview

11.6

T'Niyah Wilson-Smith

Omaha North

11.5

Libby Province

Kearney

11.4

K.J. Pinchon

Lincoln North Star

11.3

Himayajo Metoyer

Omaha North

11.2

Alexis Gutknecht

Lincoln Southwest

10.9

Sanai Foster

Omaha Westside

10.8

Rebound Leaders

T'Niyah Wilson-Smith

Omaha North

9.7

Kylee Paben

Millard West

7.6

Londyn Whitney

Millard West

6.9

Ani Leu

Lincoln North Star

6.8

Sanai Foster

Omaha Westside

6.4

Augusta Ganz

Kearney

6.2

Mia McKenzie

Millard North

5.7

Clara Welker

Millard North

5.5

Elise Pederson

Omaha Westside

5.3

Kaytee Irons-Buettner

Lincoln Southwest

5.1

Sophie Glandt

Kearney

4.7

Justine Tcheuhchoua

Omaha North

4.5

Assist Leaders

Emersyn Wells

Lincoln Southwest

4.5

MaKenna Rooney

Millard West

3.5

Ani Leu

Lincoln North Star

3.4

Libby Province

Kearney

3.2

Joyce Johnson

Lincoln North Star

3.1

Jayah Freeman

Omaha Westside

3

T'Niyah Wilson-Smith

Omaha North

3

Carly Mohatt

Millard West

2.9

Lucy Fierro

Omaha Westview

2.7

Brenly Noerrlinger

Lincoln Southwest

2.7

Macy Kellner

Omaha Westview

2.4

Kendall Anderson

Lincoln North Star

2.4

Jaelynn Moody

Millard West

2.2

Kalaya Catron

Omaha Westview

2.2

Steal Leaders

Ani Leu

Lincoln North Star

4.4

K.J. Pinchon

Lincoln North Star

3.2

Libby Province

Kearney

3

Augusta Ganz

Kearney

3

Joyce Johnson

Lincoln North Star

2.9

Addie Snyder

Kearney

2.7

Kendall Anderson

Lincoln North Star

2.5

Kylee Paben

Millard West

2.4

Akazja Foster

Omaha North

2.3

Justine Tcheuhchoua

Omaha North

2.2

Kaytee Irons-Buettner

Lincoln Southwest

2.2

Izzie Galligan

Millard North

2

MaKenna Rooney

Millard West

2

Jordyn McMahon

Millard North

2

Blocked Shot Leaders

Kylee Paben

Millard West

1.5

Londyn Whitney

Millard West

1.4

K.J. Pinchon

Lincoln North Star

0.7

Sophie Glandt

Kearney

0.7

Korbyn Pierce

Lincoln North Star

0.7

T'Niyah Wilson-Smith

Omaha North

0.7

Mia McKenzie

Millard North

0.6

Alaeya Randle

Omaha North

0.6

Eleanor Griffin

Lincoln Southwest

0.6

Marianna Zephier-Murphy

Millard North

0.6

Clara Welker

Millard North

0.6

Sierra Thomas

Omaha North

0.6

Sanai Foster

Omaha Westside

0.5

Ani Leu

Lincoln North Star

0.5

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