The Millard West senior guards — both signed with Creighton — are at it again, as co-captains of the All-Nebraska girls basketball team.

Neleigh returns as a first-team selection while Norah is a newcomer to the top squad. The duo helped the 28-1 Wildcats secure their second straight Class A title, defeating Omaha Westside in the championship game.

"We laugh about it now but there were times when they would bicker on the court," Millard West coach Marc Kruger said. "They both have a tremendous passion for the game and they're both intense competitors."

Joining the twins on the first team are Omaha Skutt's Molly Ladwig, Papillion-La Vista's Rease Murtaugh and Bellevue East's T'Niyah Wilson.

Nominations of coaches and observations of The World-Herald’s sports staff determine the newspaper’s honor teams.

MEET THE FIRST TEAM

NELEIGH GESSERT

Captain • Millard West • 6-0 • Senior • 17.6

Neleigh led the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 17.6 points. The four-year starter finished as the program's career scoring leader with 1,542 points.

The state's Gatorade player of the year also set Millard West career records for 3-pointers (293), 3-point shot percentage (38.6) and blocks (152).

"Neleigh was our all-time scoring leader and led us to two state championships," Kruger said. "She elevated our program throughout the Midwest."

She finished with double-figure scoring averages every varsity season: 12.4 points as a freshman and 11.4 as a sophomore before stretching her average to 18.6 as a junior.

"Neleigh always has done things the right way," Kruger said. "And she's always shown up in the biggest ways in our most important games."

In last year's state championship final against Bellevue West, she sank three consecutive 3-pointers to whittle an 11-point deficit to two. In this year's Metro Conference holiday tournament final, she sank a tourney-record nine treys and finished with 35 points as Millard West defeated Millard North.

Kruger said Gessert's offense gets the limelight but her defense is underrated.

"She's our all-time leader in blocked shots and is third in rebounds," he said. "She did a great job while usually covering the top scorer on the other team."

In Neleigh's words: "I would definitely say winning back-to-back championships was obviously a really cool accomplishment because that hasn't been done a lot. Getting it done with a mostly new team was a great way for the seniors to go out."

NORAH GESSERT

Captain • Millard West • 6-0 • Senior • 11.2

The point guard averaged 11.2 points and finished with 1,096 career points and set program marks for single-season assists (163) and career assists (399).

Gessert scored 18 in the Class A final, a 70-44 victory.

"She was our quarterback and our leader in a lot of ways," Kruger said. "You'd never know if she was playing her best game or her worst game because she was always focused on the task."

Like her sister, Norah had a double-figure scoring average all four seasons. She averaged 10.5 points as a freshman, 10 as a sophomore and 10.7 as a junior.

She also boosted her average number of assists per game from 1.9 as a freshman to 5.8 as a senior — tops in Class A.

Kruger said her ratio of assists to turnovers — 163-44 — was a major reason why Millard West's offense operated so smoothly.

"She was someone who had the ball in her hands all the time," he said. "We basically trusted her in every way."

The coach added that Norah often came close to a triple-double.

"Neither sister was especially vocal, but they went out and led by example," he said. "They both spent a lot of extra time in the gym, and it showed."

In Norah's words: "Winning state again was super special and to finish it off as a senior was something really nice. We made a motto at the beginning of the season that was 'pressure is a privilege' because we knew each team was going to give us their best shot."

MOLLY LADWIG

Omaha Skutt • 5-9 • Senior • 19.0

She capped her outstanding career by helping the SkyHawks capture their first Class B championship after four runner-up finishes, including each of the previous three years.

The University of Buffalo pledge also broke several program records in the process.

Ladwig, who played her freshman season at Blair and the next three at Skutt, led Class B with a 19-point scoring average. She poured in a program-record 50 points this past season in a victory over Omaha Central.

She closed her career with five other program marks — single-season points (552), career points (1,748), career assists (332), single-season charges taken (12) and career charges taken (35).

She averaged 18 points in three Skutt victories at state, including a 27-point performance in a first-round victory over Norris. The SkyHawks trailed by nine at halftime but roared back behind Ladwig's second-half performance.

"Her leadership was so important to us this season," SkyHawk coach Kip Colony said. "Molly was really vocal in practices and in games and she pushed people to be better."

Colony said he'll remember Ladwig as one of the most intense competitors he has ever coached.

"She's the ultimate blue-collar player," he said. "If she got knocked down, she was going to come back at you twice as hard."

In Molly's words: "Winning state was so special because we were the first team in our school history to get that done. That had been the goal the past three years so to be able to accomplish that and to do it for our coach, who we all love, made it even better."

REASE MURTAUGH

Papillion-La Vista • 5-7 • Senior • 23.5

A 5-foot-7 guard who is pledged to the University of Sioux Falls, Murtaugh led Class A in scoring with a 23.5-point average. That was second in the state behind Zaili Benish of Class D-2 Leyton (29.6 ppg).

A threat from long range, Murtaugh sank 67 3-pointers this season while shooting at a 37% clip.

She played sparingly as a freshman, averaging 7.1 points per game. Her offensive numbers climbed every year after as she averaged 13.9 points as a sophomore and 19.8 as a junior.

"Rease brought leadership and a competitive fire," Monarch coach Cody Trofholz said. "She went hard every day in practice and in games because she wanted to win so badly."

The coach said that leadership was evident when he emphasized the importance of doling out high-fives, whether those came after a positive or negative result.

"That was especially important after someone had made a mistake," Trofholz said. "Rease embraced that idea, and when your best player is doing something like that, the whole team is going to be lifted by that."

He added the Monarchs' missing state this season — Papio lost to Millard North in the district final — was a tough way to finish.

"Rease did everything she could," he said. "We really wanted to get there for our seniors, but it was still a great journey this season."

In Rease's words: "I'll remember the great group of girls we had on the team and the fact this was the best record we had in my four years here. We beat two teams in an early-season tournament that later went to state so that was a nice accomplishment."

T'NIYAH WILSON

Bellevue East • 5-11 • Sophomore • 21.4

The only underclassman on the first team, the sophomore averaged 21.4 points and a Class A-leading 11.9 rebounds for the 21-5 Chieftains.

Bellevue East, which earned its 21st trip to state, was the only team to defeat state champ Millard West this season.

Wilson was a force inside and outside playing alongside her sister, senior guard Jayla Wilson. T'Niyah led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocks.

She made a major impact last season as a freshman, averaging 20 points and 6.6 rebounds. While her scoring went up slightly, her work on the boards nearly doubled, a key factor in the Chieftains' success.

"Her shot selection as a freshman wasn't the best because she was rushing a lot of shots," first-year Bellevue East coach Eric Lenear said. "She slowed her game down this season and put in a lot of rebounding effort at both ends of the court."

The coach added that the 6-foot forward was a tough matchup for opponents.

"She could hit from the outside and was skilled enough in the post to finish against bigger people," he said. "She really was a nightmare for other teams to try and figure out."

One of Wilson's highlights this season was a 40-point effort against Central.

"We came up short of reaching state last year and I know that was a big team goal this season," Lenear said. "T'Niyah worked hard to make that happen and we couldn't have gotten there without her."

In T'Niyah's words: "I don't have a specific favorite memory but just this whole season probably was my favorite thing. I enjoyed the time with my teammates and the fact our seven seniors made it to state."

SECOND TEAM SELECTIONS

Parker Christiansen, Waverly, 6-0, Senior, 16.5

Mattea Kassebaum, Lincoln Christian, 5-8, Senior, 19.5

Ani Leu, Lincoln North Star, 6-0, Junior, 14.5

Jo Metoyer, Omaha Westside, 5-3, Freshman, 15.0

Kylee Paben, Millard West, 6-0, Junior, 13.2

THIRD TEAM SELECTIONS

Zaili Benish, Leyton, 5-4, Senior, 29.6

Stevie Harley, Bellevue West, 5-11, Freshman, 12.9

Mattie Kamery, Minden, 5-10, Senior, 16.8

Kamryn Kasner, Omaha Skutt, 6-0, Senior, 10.4

Myleigh Weers, Diller-Odell, 5-9, Senior, 23.0