Class A Girls State Basketball Preview
By Dean Backes
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.
Here at Heartland Prep Basketball Scoop, we’ve taken some time to crunch numbers and pick the field ahead of this weekend’s State Basketball Tournament. Then, we gathered data from MaxPreps and elsewhere to make a list of the state tournament’s top players.
Four rematches kick off the Class A field Wednesday. Defending Class A champion Millard West opens with rival Millard South after knocking the Patriots off 44-24 earlier in the year while Lincoln North Star hopes to exact a little revenge on Omaha Westview, who is making its first appearance in the state tournament. The Wolverines edged North Star 65-64 in overtime during regular season play.
Millard North and Omaha Westside square off once again Wednesday. The Mustangs edged the Warriors 47-45 in January and Bellevue East will try to flip the tables on rival Bellevue West following a 77-71 loss to the Thunderbirds last month.
Now, let’s take a look at the weekend’s Class A field.
Picking the Field for Class A
No. 1 Millard West (25-1) over No. 8 Millard South (16-9)
No. 4 Lincoln North Star (18-5) over No. 7 Omaha Westview (21-4)
No. 2 Millard North (22-3) over No. 5 Omaha Westside (19-6)
No. 6 Bellevue West (17-8) over No. 3 Bellevue East (21-4)
No. 1 Millard West (26-1) over No. 4 Lincoln North Star (19-5)
No. 2 Millard North (23-3) over No. 3 Bellevue West (18-8)
Championship: No. 1 Millard West (27-1) over No. 2 Millard North (24-3)
Dark Horse: Bellevue East
Class A Scoring Leaders
TNiyah Wilson-Smith, Bellevue East 503 Points (21.9)
Neleigh Gessert, Millard West 417 Points (18.1)
Abbi Durow, Millard South 386 Points (15.4)
Himayajo Metoyer, Omaha Westside 317 Points (15.1)
Ani Leu, Lincoln North Star 263 Points (14.6)
Brani Jackson, Bellevue East 311 Points (13.5)
Da’Nyla Tatum, Bellevue West 329 Points (13.2)
Kylee Paben, Millard West 328 Points (13.1)
Stevie Harley, Bellevue West 325 Points (13.0)
Sarah Gatwech, Lincoln North Star 200 Points (11.8)
Norah Gessert, Millard West 289 Points (11.6)
Kimora Jenkins, Omaha Westside 285 Points (11.4)
Stella Williams, Omaha Westview 282 Points (11.3)
Aubrey Carder, Millard South 267 Points (10.7)
Cardy King, Omaha Westview 263 Points (10.5)
Sanai Foster, Omaha Westside 246 Points (10.2)
Jayla Wilson, Bellevue East 234 Points (10.2)
Class A Rebound Leaders
TNiyah Wilson-Smith, Bellevue East 274 Rebounds (11.9)
Stevie Harley, Bellevue West 220 Rebounds (8.8)
Avril Smith, Millard North 193 Rebounds (7.7)
Ani Leu, Lincoln North Star 132 Rebounds (7.3)
Mya Weber, Bellevue East 172 Rebounds (7.2)
Sanai Foster, Omaha Westside 168 Rebounds (7.0)
Aubrey Carder, Millard South 174 Rebounds (7.0)
Kylee Paben, Millard West 160 Rebounds (6.4)
Jayla Cleveland, Millard South 95 Rebounds (6.3)
Sarah Gatwech, Lincoln North Star 100 Rebounds (5.9)
Neleigh Gessert, Millard West 130 Rebounds (5.7)
Jamyla Gilmore, Bellevue East 109 Rebounds (5.0)
Himayajo Metoyer, Omaha Westside 102 Rebounds (4.9)
Yirah Sears, Bellevue West 121 Rebounds (4.8)
Norah Gessert, Millard West 120 Rebounds (4.8)
Cardy King, Omaha Westview 120 Rebounds (4.8)
Class A Assist Leaders
Norah Gessert, Millard West 152 Assists (6.1)
Da’Nyla Tatum, Bellevue West 86 Assists (3.4)
Lucy Fierro, Omaha Westview 86 Assists (3.4)
Ani Leu, Lincoln North Star 57 Assists (3.2)
Yirah Sears, Bellevue West 78 Assists (3.1)
Liv Woockman, Millard South 73 Assists (2.9)
Jayla Wilson, Bellevue East 67 Assists (2.9)
Izzie Galligan, Millard North 66 Assists (2.8)
Kalaya Catron, Omaha Westview 68 Assists (2.7)
Kimora Jenkins, Omaha Westside 65 Assists (2.6)
Aubrey Carder, Millard South 64 Assists (2.6)
Kendall Anderson, Lincoln North Star 45 Assists (2.5)
Vanna Reitsma, Bellevue West 62 Assists (2.5)
TNiyah Wilson-Smith, Bellevue East 57 Assists (2.5)
Brani Jackson, Bellevue East 56 Assists (2.4)
Class A Steal Leaders
Brani Jackson, Bellevue East 74 Steals (3.2)
Ani Leu, Lincoln North Star 54 Steals (3.0)
Vanna Reitsma, Bellevue West 66 Steals (2.6)
Yira Sears, Bellevue West 63 Steals (2.5)
Neleigh Gessert, Millard West 56 Steals (2.4)
Abbi Durow, Millard South 51 Steals (2.0)
Norah Gessert, Millard West 49 Steals (2.0)
Avril Smith, Millard North 48 Steals (1.9)
Joyce Johnson, Lincoln North Star 32 Steals (1.9)
Aubrey Carder, Millard South 47 Steals (1.9)
Jayla Wilson, Bellevue East 43 Steals (1.9)
TNiyah Wilson-Smith, Bellevue East 41 Steals (1.8)
Sarah Gatwech, Lincoln North Star 30 Steals (1.8)
Izzie Galligan, Millard North 42 Steals (1.8)
Kendall Anderson, Lincoln North Star 31 Steals (1.7)
Lucy Fierro, Omaha Westview 43 Steals (1.7)
Himayajo Metoyer, Omaha Westside 36 Steals (1.7)
Class A Block Leaders
Stevie Harley, Bellevue West 65 Blocks (2.6)
Avril Smith, Millard North 47 Blocks (1.9)
Jamyla Gilmore, Bellevue East 41 Blocks (1.9)
Neleigh Gessert, Millard West 38 Blocks (1.7)
Jayla Cleveland, Millard South 24 Blocks (1.6)
TNiyah Wilson-Smit, Bellevue East 31 Blocks (1.3)
Elise Pederson, Omaha Westside 9 Blocks (0.8)
Sarah Gatwech, Lincoln North Star 12 Blocks (0.7)
Londyn Whitney, Millard West 18 Blocks (0.7)
Jade Lewis, Millard West 14 Blocks (0.7)
Joyce Johnson, Lincoln North Star 11 Blocks (0.6)
Clara Welker, Millard North 16 Blocks (0.6)
Norah Gessert, Millard West 16 Blocks (0.6)
Kylee Paben, Millard West 14 Blocks (0.6)
Kendall Anderson, Lincoln North Star 9 Blocks (0.5)
Aleviah Anderson, Lincoln North Star 9 Blocks (0.5)