Vote: Who should be SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week (2/26/2024)?

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week for Feb. 19-25

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week for Feb. 19-25. 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 is 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.

Kamryn Exner – Papillion-La Vista South Girls Basketball

Papio South’s seven-year wait to get back to state ended last week thanks to Exner’s big game against Northeast. Exner, a senior guard, scored a game-high 20 points, shot 7 of 12, hit six three-pointers and swiped away four steals. Exner scores an average of just four points per game and isn’t depended on as a regular scorer, but she was hot from all over the floor in a win that gave her the highest total of her career. Exner had made five three-pointers in two games this season but had never made six.

Piper Hagen – Westside Girls Swimming

She won a gold medal by herself, delivered another win in a relay and set a school record while also enjoying a team championship. Westside was all over the medal stand at Saturday’s state championships, won its first team title in 12 years and won its 15th trophy all time. The most visible Warrior who made that possible was Hagen. The junior won the 500 by coming back from down more than a second with 100 yards to go, anchored the 400 free relay to gold, was the 200 IM runner-up and anchored the 200 free relay to a silver medal. Her 500 time of 5:01.78 is fifth all time in the state and broke Westside’s current oldest record – a mark that had stood since 1996.

Josilyn Miller – Niobrara/Verdigre Girls Basketball

Niobrara/Veridgre made history when it qualified for state as a combined program for the first time two years ago. It looked like the Cougars were on their way to Lincoln again last year until Miller tore her ACL late in the season and Niobrara/Verdigree lost three straight including in the subdistrict and district final. Miller has come back with a vengeance this season and averaged nearly 26 points per game. She had 24 in Friday’s upset over Bayard and sent the Cougars back to state. Miller shot 5 for 5 from the floor and was 14 of 19 from the line. She was coming off 39 points in the 52-51 sub win over Ainsworth.

Taryn Otteman – Johnson-Brock Girls Basketball

A nomination for AOTW isn’t much of a consolation, but here’s to recognizing quite the effort by Otteman in last week’s district final. The Johnson-Brock junior did all she could in a home game against Bancroft-Rosalie, scoring a game-high 32 points while hitting five threes, nine free throws and going 9 of 16 from the field. Otteman also had a double-double on 10 rebounds but it wasn’t enough during a heartbreaking four-overtime loss. It was Otteman’s best scoring game of her career.

Kaylee Paben – Millard West Girls Basketball

Paben looks like a potential star of the future at Millard West. But as many quality games as she’s had this season, her biggest was in Friday’s district final win over Benson that sends the Wildcats back to state for the second year in a row. Paben scored 24 points in the win, the second-highest total of her career, by shooting 9 of 12 and going 4 of 6 from long range. Her 24 points were a game-high and helped Millard West maintain some momentum for state by giving the Wildcats their 12th win in a row. Paben is averaging 11 points per game and shooting 44%.

Meredith Peyton – Marian Girls Swimming

Peyton was perhaps the best young swimmer in last year’s state tournament. She led off two Marian relays to gold medals and won two others as a Crusader freshman. Peyton was back at the Devaney Center over the weekend and again took four trips to the medal stand – this time all to the top. With her teammates, Peyton was the second leg of the 200 free relay that edged out second place by .06 and the butterfly leg of the medley relay that dominated the championship final by more than three seconds. Individually, Peyton was the class of the field in both the 100 butterfly and the 200 free. She already has eight state medals halfway through her varsity career.

Naomi White – Bellevue West Girls Basketball

Bellevue West has been to state each of the past two years and made a step further each time. White was a reserve player who had eight points in the district final two years ago as a sophomore. As a junior, she struggled to 5 of 14 shooting and had 13 in a loss. Despite the defeat, White and her teammates took a wildcard to state. There’s no doubt she remembers those struggles from a year ago. Playing in her third district final, White came out on a mission and led Bellevue West to a rivalry playoff win over Bellevue East by scoring 35 on 12 of 23 shooting, 6 of 12 from the perimeter and had 12 rebounds. Thirty-five points is the best single-game scoring effort of her career.

Natalya Woods – Lincoln Southeast Girls Swimming

Woods hasn’t just been good, she’s been historically good in a varsity career that reached its crowning achievement on Saturday in Lincoln. Behind two more wins – the 50 and the 100 freestyle – Woods became just the eighth female in Nebraska history to win six or more state gold medals. In her rookie season and her sophomore year, Woods completed the double in the 200 and 400. She was the runner-up in those events as a junior. In addition to her Saturday golds, Woods also anchored the Knights’ 200 and 400 free relays to two more medals. The LSU recruit closed her time with Southeast by swimming her best-ever times in the 50 and the 100.

Mckenna Yates – McCool Junction Girls Basketball

Yates had 39 in the district final last year and sent the McCool Junction girls back to state for the first time in 20 years. Unfortunately, it was a short stay following a first-round loss. Yates gave the Mustangs another chance last week when she had another big district final – 29 points in a win over Alma. Yates had a tough shooting night but made four threes, went 13 of 17 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. It was the fourth time in the last five games Yates had more than 20 points. In the postseason she has had totals of 30, 24 and 29.

Bryson Bahl – Papillion-La Vista South Boys Basketball

It’s just the second time this season that Bahl has been nominated for AOTW. But while his nominations have been few, Bahl always has the kind of strong, consistent play that forces opponents to make him part of the gameplan. Recent opponents certainly did that, but it didn’t matter much. In the first district game of the playoffs, Bahl scored 26, shot 10 of 14, hit four threes and grabbed eight rebounds while leading Papio South to a win over Elkhorn South. He’s coming off a stretch that includes 17 in a game against Millard West and 40 against Bellevue West. Bahl is averaging a double-double on 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Drayton Beber – Creighton Prep Boys Swimming

Beber had a state meet to remember over two days Friday and Saturday in Lincoln. The Junior Jays’ senior delivered a 200 individual medley gold with the second leg of the Prep relay. Not long after, he won more gold with a time more than a second ahead of the runner-up in the individual medley. That would have been a pretty good day for any swimmer, but Beber went from memorable to historic when he also swam the anchor leg of the 200 relay and won Prep another gold then closed the day with a silver in the 100 breastroke. Beber’s performance was part of a Prep state championship.

Jadeon Carter – Lincoln East Boys Swimming

Carter was the most influential member of the roster for a Lincoln East team that earned a state runner-up finish at the state meet. The Spartan junior was the state champ in the 100 freestyle by a narrow 0.22 seconds, won gold again in the 500 free final – this time more comfortably by nearly two seconds – added a third state medal as the anchor leg of the Lincoln East 200 free relay that took bronze and was the third leg of the 400 free relay that won another medal. It was the third year in a row Carter has won multiple medals at the state meet. He also won four medals last year.

Gage Hedstrom – O’Neill St. Mary’s Boys Basketball

Saint Mary’s lost back-to-back games early in February and created reasons for concern as the postseason approached. But after a couple of setbacks, Hedstrom has led the way in getting the Cardinals back on track. The St. Mary’s sophomore scored more than 20 points the next three games in a row – the first time he’s done that this season – and the Cardinals made a run to the subdistrict title. Hedstrom had 26 points in the sub title win over Stuart, hit six three-pointers and increased his season three-point total to 63 makes from the perimeter.

Brayden Kasten – Potter-Dix Boys Basketball

Potter-Dix lost five in a row from mid-January to early February. That stretch of futility dropped the Coyotes below .500 and cost them the opportunity to host the subdistrict tournament. But since then, Kasten has helped get Potter-Dix back on track with 72 points in three games. Last week in the sub tournament at Leyton, Kasten scored 25 on 12 of 14 shooting in a win over Creek Valley. He had 21 and 13 rebounds during a win over Banner County that advanced Potter-Dix to the district final.

Aidin Kolb – Lincoln Southwest Boys Swimming

Kolb was one of the superstars of this year’s state swimming meet. The Southwest senior won himself two golds and had two other medals as part of Southwest relay teams. Kolb was the winner in the 50 freestyle, edging out second place by .30 seconds and swimming his best time of the year. He also took gold in the 100 backstroke in another close win, this time by .22. In relay competition, Southwest took silver with its best time of the year and Kolb on the anchor leg. Kolb closed his day with yet another medal in the 400 free relay.

Traegan McNally – Ainsworth Boys Basketball

How does a program on an eight-year drought from the state tournament find its way back to Lincoln? Well, for the Bulldogs, they turned to their senior point guard. McNally had a game for the ages in Saturday’s district final, scored a season-high 34 points and earned Ainsworth its way back to state. For McNally, it was the second-highest-scoring game of his career and came together on 12 of 23 shooting, four three-pointers and four rebounds. McNally is averaging 16.5 points per game, shooting an average of 44% and has 41 made threes.

Terance Pittman – Parkview Christian Boys Basketball

Pittman has enjoyed finishing the season on top each of the past three years, and he’s not intent on closing his varsity career any other way. The Patriot senior is averaging nearly 30 points per game and has had 14 of those such games since the start of the year. His most recent was in Thursday’s subdistrict title win over Falls City Sacred Heart. Pittman scored 32, grabbed seven rebounds, swiped away five steals and made it 12 straight games with at least 22 points.

Noah Simones – Conestoga Boys Basketball

Conestoga had no guarantees for a district final despite going 18-3 in the regular season. The Cougars had to have two wins in the subdistrict round to guarantee an extension of the season – a wildcard spot looked out of the question. Simones made sure there was no waiting and hoping by leading Conestoga to two subdistrict wins while scoring 47 total points. Simones shot 8 of 16 against Palmyra and hit five threes for a 22-point total. Two nights later, he had 25, hit 10 of 18 and sank four more from beyond the arc.

Daleron Thomas – Omaha Central Boys Basketball

Central gained some momentum right after the Metro Tournament and looked like a top-five team with state championship potential. But the Eagles then went on a slide and lost five out of six in February. That left Central out of the top eight in the wildcard standings and forced the Eagles to go on the road for the district tournament. Thomas responded and began building some positive vibes for his team by scoring 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting with three rebounds, three assists and three steals in a playoff win over Lincoln East. It was the second straight game he scored 23 points and the sixth time he’s had more than 20 this season.

--Nathan Charles | @SBLiveNeb