Vote: Who should be SBLive’s Nebraska Athlete of the Week (Jan. 29)?
Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week for Jan. 22-28. Read through the nominees and cast your vote. Voting will conclude Sunday at 11:59 p.m. If you would like to make a nomination in a future week, email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com.
Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll are intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. However, we do not allow votes that are generated by script, macro or other automated means. Athletes who receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.
Madison Bunger – Wilcox-Hildreth Girls Basketball
Bunger is just a few rebounds away from averaging a double-double for the second time in her career and has eight of those in 19 games this season. She has scored double-digit points in each of the past six games and had one of her best performances overall Jan. 26 during a win over Franklin. The Falcon junior scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. It was the second time she scored more than 20 and had 10 or more boards.
Samryn Dick – Bancroft-Rosalie Girls Basketball
Dick was on this list earlier in January following 27 points and five steals in a win over Tekamah-Herman. The Panther senior racked up 27 points again Jan. 26 when she shot 11 of 21 and hit five three-pointers in a win over Lyons-Decatur. Dick is averaging nearly 16 points this season, has six straight games of double-digits and has scored 104 total points during that six-game stretch.
Keyera Eisenhauer – Elgin/Pope John Girls Basketball
Eisenhauer has a career scoring average of 12 points per game and has had her share of big nights over the past four seasons. In a Jan. 25 win over Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, she was at a new level. For the first time in her career, Eisenhauer scored over 30, had 34 and set a new career-high by 10 points. Eisenhauer has 11 games in double-digits this year and is the leading scorer for a Wolfpack team that is 15-1.
Sarah Gatwech – North Star Girls Basketball
Gatwech has been solid for the Navigators all season, but she reached a new level on Jan. 26 during a win over Kearney. The North Star junior was nearly perfect shooting at 14 of 17 and scored a career-high 30 points. Gatwech has nine games with double-digit points and has had five in a row with 11 or more. During that five-game stretch, Gatwech is shooting 37 of 61.
Norah Gessert – Millard West Girls Basketball
Gessert has been a difference-maker for the Wildcats each year of her career, but she’s increased her efficiency in a big way this winter. The Millard West junior is shooting the ball at a career-best 46% and has been at 50% or better in seven games while scoring nearly 12 points per game. In a Jan. 26 win over Westside, Gessert shot 7 of 10 and scored 21 points. It was her best this year in number of shots made. It was also the fifth game in a row she finished in double-digit scoring.
Abbi Gibbs – Brownell-Talbot Girls Basketball
Gibbs has turned into a double-double machine for the Raiders. The Brownell-Talbot sophomore had 12 of those last season and already has seven this season including in each of the last five games. Gibbs played twice last week and put together efforts of 18 points and 11 boards in a win over Parkview Christian then followed it up with 22 points and 10 rebounds against College View Academy.
Natalie Harris – Westside Girls Swimming
Harris came up big for the Warriors in their final invite of the regular season, winning twice while leading Westside to a win in its home pool. The senior took the top spot in the 200-yard freestyle with her fastest time of the season then won gold in the 500 free also in a season-best time while setting the meet record. Harris set another record when she was the anchor of the 200 medley relay, bringing her team to the wall with a pool and program record.
Lacy Lemburg – Lakeview Girls Wrestling
Lemburg became a back-to-back tournament champion on Saturday at the Central Conference Tournament and has won her last 16 in a row since a defeat in early December. The Lakeview junior improved to 23-1 with a pin and two close decisions for the 120-pound championship. Lemburg has been to state each of the past two years and went over 80 wins for her career.
Paola Vergara – O’Neill Girls Wrestling
Vergara is among the leaders in wins across the state of Nebraska, but the O’Neill senior was coming off a loss in the conference tournament when she stepped back on the mat at the Dale Bonge Invite in Albion. It was the second year in a row she came up short in a conference title match, but also the second year in a row she responded. Vergara reached the 40-win plateau by taking the 170-pound gold on two pins and a 3-0 win over a foe with 23 wins.
Abriya Watkins – Omaha Northwest Girls Basketball
Northwest won just one of its first 10 games but has come on for wins in three of the last five. Finding three victories over the past five games has coincided with Watkins' best stretch of the season. The Husky junior has scored at least 14 in all five and has gone over 20 three times. This past week she had totals of 24, 16 and 21 while shooting 26 of 49.
Jadyn Cascio Jensen – Bellevue West Boys Basketball
Bell West has had its share of superstars in the last few years. Cascio Jensen might be ready to take his spot among those other illustrious names after a Jan. 25 performance during a top-five matchup against Creighton Prep. The T-Bird senior scored 26 points, sank eight three-pointers and made each of his first seven attempts from long range. Cascio Jensen was averaging less than five points per game and shooting 27% from distance. This type of performance could get his good shooting back on track.
Jameson Conway – Wilber-Clatonia Boys Basketball
Conway had a shooting night for the ages and one that, quite simply came out of nowhere in Tuesday’s win over Palmyra. To this point in his career, Conway had made a grand total of two three-pointers. But with his team on a three-game skid and in need of a big game from somebody, it was Conway who stepped up and hit seven from beyond the arc. A sophomore, Conway hit 7 of 10 and scored 21 points.
Kale Gustafson – Osceola Boys Basketball
There’s no two ways about it, Gustafson is one of the most consistent players in Nebraska. And that hasn’t been the case just this year, but since Gustafson stepped on the court three years ago. He proved that once again this week when he led Osceola to the Crossroads Conference Tournament title. Gustafson scored 24, 19 and then 32 and the Bulldogs won conference for the second year in a row.
Jackson Kerchal – Dundy County-Stratton Boys Basketball
Kerchal has had big games in the past and been nominated for AOTW two other times in his career. But he’s rarely been as good as on Jan. 23 when the DCS senior scored more than 30 points for the first time in his career. Kerchal hit on 13 of 21, grabbed eight rebounds, swiped away four steals and handed out three assists. It was the seventh time this season Kerchal has had 20 or more points. He is now just nine points away from surpassing 1,300 career points.
Kyler Lauridsen – Bennington Boys Wrestling
Lauridsen is already a two-time state champ who looks more than ready to make it three. This time, however, Lauridsen looks like he has a chance to do it with a perfect record. The Bennington junior improved to 43-0 over the weekend by winning his fourth tournament of the season and capturing the Eastern Midlands Conference 150-pound championship – his third conference title in a row.
Levi McGrew – McGrew wasn’t able to step onto the mat until late in December, but the Lincoln Christian senior has been making up for lost time in dominant fashion ever since. McGrew improved to 23-0 at the Bishop Neumann Invite on Saturday with five wins and his fourth tournament championship. He pinned all five opponents and took all five to the mat in under a minute.
Dominik Rice – Benson Boys Basketball
Rice has found a scoring touch in his last two games that has added up to over 40 points. The Benson senior started with 22 points in a win over Bellevue East on Jan. 20 then followed it up with 23 in another victory, this one over Burke on Jan. 24. Before recently, Rice had four games out of the first eight with double-digits. He’s done that in four of the last five and has scored a total of 74 points in that span. During that time, he also shot 23 of 56 and dished out 27 assists.
Gibson Roberts – Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Boys Basketball
Roberts was deadly from deep and, well, basically from all over during a Jan. 23 win over Osmond/Randolph. The LCC junior hit five three-pointers on his way to 30 points and scored 30 or more for just the second time in his career. Roberts was 50% shooting overall and reached double digits for the 13th time this season. He’s shooting 40% through 17 games and has hit 38 times from beyond the arc.
Jacob Webber – Kearney Boys Basketball
Webber is laying claim to the best sophomore in the state and is also entering the conversation as one of the best players overall. Webber is averaging over 18 points per game, has six games with more than 20 points and recently had a run of three straight games with 22 or more. In a win over North Star on Jan. 26, Webber scored 28, shot 9 of 15 and hit seven threes. He scored 27 and hit nine threes the game before.
Cade Ziola – Skutt Catholic Boys Wrestling
Every season of Ziola’s career has ended in the state title match. He settled for a silver as a freshman before going 29-3 last season and completing the journey to a state title by winning his final 10 matches. He’s been untouchable in his junior year, winning all 32 of his matches so far. Over the weekend he went 5-0 with three technical falls and a pin while winning his home tournament.
--Nathan Charles I @SBLiveNeb
