Athlete of the Week: Millard West girls basketball’s Neleigh Gessert

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Millard West girls basketball has spent the week celebrating their first state championship.

“It’s pretty cool for it to end like this,” Junior Neleigh Gessert said. “It’s what we’ve all been working for all season and something we’ve dream of for a long time.”

The program’s first title didn’t come easy. The Wilcats trailed Bellevue West by 12 in the second quarter of the Class A championship. That’s when head coach Marc Kruger decided to change up the gameplan and draw it up for Neleigh Gessert.

“Let’s get her the ball,” he said. “You can see it in her eyes. Other kids stepped up and made plays too, but it was a conscious effort to get her the ball, and she delivered in a big way.”

Gessert hit a trio of three-pointers before halftime, helping cut the deficit to just four by halftime. She went off for 29 points, including two crucial free throws to seal it for the Wildcats.

“We practiced for these moments,” she said. “So I just took a deep breath and trusted the work I put in and knocked them down.”

Making the 58-55 victory even sweeter—Neleigh got to share the moment with her twin sister Norah, who scored 20 points in Millard West’s semifinal win over Lincoln North Star.

“We’ve been playing with each other since we started basketball,” she said. “So to get to experience that together was pretty special.”

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