Lincoln North Star's Ani Leu goes up for a basket against Millard North's Izzie Galligan (22) and Mia McKenzie (23) in the quarterfinal of the NSAA Class A Girls State Basketball Tournament on Mar. 4, 2026. (Jeff Motz/KFOR Sports)LINCOLN–(KFOR Mar. 4)–The rim wasn’t friendly for the opening game of the NSAA Class “A” Girls State Basketball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. Despite missing layups, putbacks or three-pointers early, the Lincoln North Star Navigators manage to hit enough baskets and rely on defense that forced 28 turnovers to earn a 43-32 victory over Millard North at Pinnacle Bank Arena. North Star (25-1) advances to play Millard West in Friday’s 1:30pm Class A semifinal, after the Wildcats defeated Omaha Westside. The difference for the Gators in the fourth quarter were back-to-back three-pointers from senior KJ Pinchon, who scored a team-high 14 points.  North Star traded leads with Millard North in the first quarter, before taking a 14-12 lead.  The Gators managed to outscore the Mustangs in the second quarter 9-6 that saw North Star lead at the break 23-18. Joyce Johnson, North Star’s 5-5 guard, scored five of the Gators’ seven points in the third quarter, one of which came from three-point range.  She finished with nine points.  Top scorer Ani Leu and Kendall Anderson combined to shoot 2 for 13 from the field.  Leu finished with six points. Mia McKenzie led Millard North in the loss with 15 points.  The Mustangs finish the season at 15-10. KEARNEY 55, LINCOLN SOUTHWEST 51 Before a great turnout of Bearcat fans, No. 2 Kearney managed to get a late rally with under a minute to play and ended the Silver Hawks’ season. KayTee Irons scored for Southwest with 57 seconds left to give the ‘Hawks a 51-50 lead, but the Bearcats got a pair of free throws from Libby Province to give Kearney a one-point lead. But Province came up with a steal close to midcourt, after colliding with Irons that may have been a kicked ball or a trip.  No whistle, but Kearney got a fouled and Hallie Garner sank one of two free throws to give the Bearcats a two-point lead. Province had 15 points for Kearney, while Irons led all scorers with 22 points for Southwest. ...read more read less