Juniors Norah and Neleigh Gessert are leading the Millard West girls basketball team to an undefeated season.
They have gotten to the top of their game together. Not many siblings, let alone twins, play the same sports and even get better together, however twins Norah Gessert and Neliegh Gessert have gotten a lot better while growing up. They have had many motivations to get them to where they are right now.
The twins are one of the main reasons why the Millard West girls basketball team is having a really good season. But all of this talent and skill to lead doesn’t just happen to everyone. It requires a lot of dedication, time and hard work. The twins started basketball at a young age and have worked their way up. They wanted to start playing basketball at a young age because of their older brother who used to play basketball.
“I started playing basketball super young, around kindergarten,” Gessert said. “My older brother played basketball and I would always watch him. I thought it was super cool and followed in his footsteps.”
Neleigh Gessert has worked hard to get better at basketball. She does a lot of training as well as a lot of practicing so that she can improve herself every chance she gets. The training and practicing has caused her to make some sacrifices from quitting other sports to not having as much free time to do things that she likes. All this benefits her in getting her to get better at basketball.
“For school I have practice every day,” Gessert said. “Outside of the high school season in the spring, I will have summer practice once or twice a week, and then I do additional training for basketball. This last year I decided not to play volleyball to focus more on basketball training and lifting and running. I think it has helped tremendously with my speed, strength and agility.”
The twins contribute to their team in many different ways. They are able to influence others by having a positive attitude. Norah and Neliegh also help the team by racking up points and doing what they need to do on the court. This helps the team achieve victory over the other team and it has worked a lot.
“They contribute in a lot of ways,” girls basketball head coach Marc Kruger said. “First off, I think it’s obvious how much they love to play and that filters to the rest of the team. Second is they put in hours and hours of work outside of our practices and that encourages others to do the same. And third is the obvious on the court production that you see, in points, rebounds, block shots, etc.”
They are able to do all of this on the bigger stages as well. They have been able to get multiple victories in tournaments and championships. They are one of the reasons why the Millard West girls basketball team has had an amazing season.
