The Bellevue West Thunderdome played host to the girls and boys basketball Metro Conference Tournament on Thursday night, with a record-setting performance in the first game and an upset in the second.
GBB: No. 1 Millard West 72, No. 2 Millard North 58
Neleigh Gessert dropped 30 in the championship game a season ago to lift her team to victory. The senior one-upped herself on Thursday, scoring a new tournament final record 35 points in a blistering shooting display.
The Creighton signee shot 13-of-20 from the field including 9-of-15 from 3 while adding six rebounds, four steals and four blocks to her line. The nine 3-pointers are a new single-game tournament record.
“It feels pretty good,” Gessert said of her record-setting day. “It’s a big accomplishment, but I’ve still got to put it back on my team. They found me all night.”
The one who found her most was her twin sister Norah Gessert, also a Creighton signee. She flirted with a triple-double, totaling 10 assists, nine points, eight rebounds and three steal.
“Playing with her for so long, I feel like I know where she’s at, she knows where I’m at,” Neleigh said. “Playing with her since, what, kindergarten has really helped us out a lot.”
Each team knocked down 12 3-pointers in the game, setting a new tournament single-game record with 24 between them.
Millard North opened the game in a 1-3-1 zone on defense, slowing the Wildcat attack early. The Mustangs led 5-3 a few minutes into the game.
Then shots started to fall for the Wildcats, and they never really stopped. Millard West scored 18 straight points spanning the first and second quarters to take control of the game, and they continued the onslaught the rest of the half with Neleigh Gessert spearheading the attack.
“Their 1-3-1, we played them the first game of the year, and they didn’t show it at all, and then it was so successful for them the other day,” Millard West coach Marc Kruger said. “We prepared for it; it just takes a little time. Once we kind of got things figured out, and a shot goes, we kind of relaxed a little bit. Then we got to go on pretty good run there, so that was fun.”
Millard West took a 37-11 lead into halftime then cruised through the second half. Neleigh had 23 points and seven 3s by herself at the break.
“I’ve seen it before,” Kruger said. “We want to play team ball and all this, but when she’s feeling that, you’re just like, ‘Yeah, go ahead.’ Any shot’s a good shot when she’s feeling that. She’s got this kind of really good habit of showing up really big in big games, so hopefully that that continues.”
Kruger gave his reserves some extended run in the third quarter and the Mustangs finally found their offense, pouring in 28 points in the period. That included six 3-pointers, raising the total for both teams to 18 and breaking the previous single-game tournament record of 17 — with eight more minutes to play.
Neleigh Gessert added another triple and put-back in the fourth quarter to secure both records before taking a seat alongside the other Millard West starters.
The last few minutes belonged to Mila Anderson, a junior guard who knocked down three treys, a layup after a steal and a pair of free throws to finish with a team-high 13 points for the Mustangs.
Senior Emma Vander Plaats added 12 points, shooting 2-of-4 from deep and 6-of-6 from the foul line. Senior Sara Harley added 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting (2-of-2 from 3) and 3-of-4 from the line. Junior Clara Welker also totaled 11 points as well, shooting 3-of-5 from 3.
The top-ranked Wildcats have now taken home two straight Metro Conference Tournament titles, with a state tournament title in between. Millard West stands at 8-1 on the season, with the lone loss coming to Bellevue East in their third-game of the season, and the Wildcats avenged that loss with a 16-point win over the Chieftains in the semifinals.
“We’ve kind of taken the approach that we’re not trying to repeat necessarily,” Kruger said. “This is a totally different team, so we’re just trying to do it again, almost like the first time again, because it’s not the same team and things like that. We’re trying to stay focused and keep getting better. Even with this, there’s a lot of things that we can go back and watch film, especially the second half, that we can be better at.
“I know it wasn’t really in doubt, but we’re always going to try to use things to get better, and so it was fun, but we can keep working. The job’s not done.”
“I got in a rhythm early and my team found me all night.”@neleighgessert joined @Austin2Jacobsen after a record 35-point performance in the Metro Conference Championship game. #nebpreps | @Borsheims pic.twitter.com/XlltE3zVQv
— Hurrdat Sports (@HurrdatSports) January 3, 2025
All-Tournament Team (Tournament Stats)
MOP — Millard West SR Neleigh Gessert: 20.7 PPG, 47.8% FG (44.4% 3FG), 66.7% FT, 7.7 RPG, 2.3 BPG, 2.0 APG, 2.0 SPG
Millard West JR Kylee Paben: 15.5 PPG, 67.6% FG (71.4% 3FG), 5.0 RPG (1.3 ORPG), 1.5 SPG
Millard West SR Norah Gessert: 11.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.5 APG, 2.8 SPG
Millard South FR Aubrey Carder: 15.7 PPG, 42.9% 3FG, 86.7% FT, 9.7 RPG (4.0 ORPG), 1.3 APG
Bellevue East SO T’Niyah Wilson-Smith: 20.0 PPG, 46.4% FG, 83.3% FT, 13.0 RPG (3.3 ORPG), 3.3 APG
Papillion-La Vista sophomore Levi Webb (12) celebrates with his teammates during Thursday’s Metro Conference Tournament championship. Photo by Drew Balus.
BBB: No. 6 Papillion-La Vista South 60, No. 1 Omaha Westside 59
On a day when 3s weren’t falling, the Titans relied on their defense to hand Westside its first loss of the season and capture Papillion-La Vista South’s first Metro Conference Tournament title.
“That was four really hard-fought games,” Papio South coach Joel Hueser said. “We just needed to continue to forge a little bit of an identity. I think defensively, that’s where we’ve maybe been lacking to begin the season, but the kids did a good job tonight and got some big stops there when we needed them.”
South Dakota State signee Bryson Bahl put the team on his back in the first three games of the tournament, but it was sophomore Levi Webb who took the lead on Thursday night. The 6-foot-3 guard went off for a career-high 27 points on 7-of-8 from the field (3-of-3 from deep) and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.
“That was a tremendous game for Levi,” Hueser said. “He kind of struggled a little bit in the last game or two earlier in the tournament, so it’s good to see him break out. The more you can play under the bright lights, the better it is, because we’re just not that used to it.”
Webb said he took advantage of the defensive attention paid to Bahl and senior point guard Reece Kircher to find opportunities to score.
“When I got the ball I could just go attack, and once I got a couple early buckets, I had confidence the rest of the game,” said Webb, who scored 10 of the Titans’ 19 first-quarter points.
The rest of the Titans shot a combined 0-for-10 from deep, which including a 0-for-7 performance from Bahl after the 6-foot-4 senior had shot 44% in his first three tournament games. Despite the off night, he still put up 21 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks.
“He impacted the game in a lot of other ways tonight with his paint game, his mid-range game, and obviously rebounding,” Hueser said. “I know that’s probably not going to happen again, but we’re really glad to sneak away with this win despite him not being as efficient as he normally is. He wouldn’t tell you, but he’s got two really banged up fingers right now from the other night.”
While a sophomore stole the show for the Titans, it was a freshman who put the Warriors on his back. Lee Robinson led Westside with 21 points on 7-of-12 from the field (3-of-6 from 3) and 4-of-4 from the line, four rebounds and two steals — two days after hitting the game-winner against Creighton Prep in the semifinals.
The Titans flustered Westside early, racing out to an 11-2 lead as the Warriors missed four of their first five shots and turned the ball over five times in the early going.
The freshman stepped up after that to stabilize Westside, snapping the run with a step-back 3 before drawing a foul on another 3-point attempt and hitting all three shots. The Warriors continued to push taking their first lead on another Robinson 3 in the second quarter before heading into halftime with a 31-28 advantage.
Westside opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run to extend the lead to eight before the Titans mounted a counterattack, scoring seven straight to get right back in it. Westside took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The final period was filled with big plays by both sides and included three different ties before Papio South pulled ahead for good.
The Titans led 56-55 with about 90 seconds left when Kircher dove on the ground to secure a steal, pitching it ahead to Bahl who took it in for the layup with a minute to play. Papio South got the stop it needed on Westside’s next possession as well, forcing the Warriors to foul Webb with 20.5 to play. The sophomore hit both to push the lead to five.
“I think when that ball goes through the hole like it was for him tonight, it makes it a lot easier, no doubt,” Hueser said of the clutch free throws.
Westside got a put-back from Emre Gedik then forced a turnover, which Tyson Odvody secured under the basket for the steal and quickly turned into a layup, but it was too little too late. The officials put 0.3 on the clock and the Titans tossed it in to run out the final three tenths.
The Titans held Westside to 43.5% from the field and forced 15 turnovers to offset their own rough shooting game and secure the victory, improving to 8-1 on the season.
“We’ve just got to trust our teammates, trust each other on defense,” Webb said. “When you get stops, it gives you momentum to score on offense.”
“My teammates had confidence in me, and they could trust me to do what I can do.”@Levi_Webb_ joined @Austin2Jacobsen after a 27-point showing in the Metro Conference Championship game. #nebpreps | @Borsheims pic.twitter.com/3iAWNkRud1
— Hurrdat Sports (@HurrdatSports) January 3, 2025
All-Tournament Team (Tournament Stats)
MOP — Papillion-La Vista South SR Bryson Bahl: 27.0 PPG, 49.3% FG (37.5% 3FG), 90.3% FT, 7.5 RPG (2.0 ORPG), 1.3 SPG
Papillion-La Vista South SO Levi Webb: 14.3 PPG, 52.9% FG (50.0% 3FG), 75.0% FT, 2.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.3 SPG
Omaha Westside FR Lee Robinson: 15.5 PPG, 45.7% FG (43.8% 3FG), 79.3% FT, 6.8 RPG (2.3 ORPG), 5.0 APG, 2.8 SPG
Omaha Westside JR Emre Gedik: 16.8 PPG, 52.3% FG (38.5% 3FG), 5.3 RPG (1.3 ORPG), 2.0 SPG, 1.3 APG
Millard South JR Jett Thomalla: 11.3 PPG, 61.9% FG (100% 3FG), 8.0 RPG (4.0 ORPG), 6.7 APG
