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The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
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Queens of Q Street

Wildcats take down Patriots in chippy rivalry
Landen Swift, Staff reporter
February 6, 2025
Sam Whittaker
Dribbling past the defenders, senior Norah Gessert tries to find herself a lane to drive in the paint to work herself to the hoop and make a basket to help lead her team to a victory. During the game she scored 12 points and had three rebounds. “I try to find open lanes if possible and I know if I can’t then I will have a teammate by me that I can pass it to,” Gessert said. “We are always trying to score points no matter what way it happens.”

On Friday,  Jan. 24, the Wildcats traveled down the street to take on the Millard South Patriots. West was looking to defeat a top 10 ranked team to keep their winning streak alive. 

The Wildcat’s were hoping they would get hot early to keep up with the Patriots.

Both teams started the game off with an aggressive zone defense that led to a close 9-4 score midway through the first quarter. The Wildcats were moving fast down the court early but the shots weren’t falling. 

“We were moving a little too fast down the court but our defensive part stepped up during the times we weren’t able to make shots,” Senior Neleigh Gessert said. 

The Patriots defensive efforts weren’t working the way they wanted it towards the end of the quarter as the Wildcat’s close the quarter with a 17-6 lead. 

The Wildcat’s were then shut out through the second quarter as the Patriots took advantage through the quarter. The Patriots went on a 10-0 run in the quarter, making the score 17-16 at half. 

The Wildcat’s knew there needed to be some changes at half to not let the Patriots take control.

“We talked about how we need to move more and get each other open,”Norah Gessert said. “Our coaches made it clear that we were forcing our shots too quickly. Being able to stay on track and scoring points is key every quarter.”

Reflecting on the team’s performance in the second quarter head coach Marc Kruger knew he needed to keep the resilience level high.

“I should’ve called a timeout during the second quarter to calm the girls down,” Kruger said. “South was out playing us in that quarter and shots were going up for us just not falling in the way we would have wanted them to.”

The Wildcats then got back on track in the third quarter knocking shots down and playing aggressive defense. The Patriots meanwhile got into foul trouble early in the third having three fouls just two minutes into the second half. The Patriots needed to find a spark to get back into the game.

Throughout the game, both Gesserts and Junior Kylee Paben scored the most points in the game, Neleigh with 13 points and Norah at 12 and Paben at nine points. Seniors Anna Dunne and Jade Lewis also added five points to the total score.

During the game, Neleigh Gessert broke the school record for most career blocks at Millard West that hadn’t been broken since 1999-2003. 

“Our coach is always trying to help improve our defensive side of the game which has helped lead up to this. It’s definitely a cool accomplishment to break another school record but I don’t normally focus on breaking records,” Gessert said.

The Wildcats came up with a respectable win to defeat the Patriots. They look to keep the momentum going into the rest of the season after picking up the 44-24 victory against the Patriots and to improve their record to 16-1.

 

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About the Contributors
Landen Swift
Landen Swift, Staff Reporter
Landen is a senior and is involved with being a Wildcat Crazy here at Millard West. He is also involved in the Millard West Yearbook. He enjoys watching and taking pictures of sports events for Millard West. He hopes to improve his film taking and interviewing skills through the year.
Sam Whittaker
Sam Whittaker, Staff Reporter
Also known as the voice of Millard West Hockey, Sam is a senior at Millard West in his second full year on the Catalyst Staff. He spent the summer cheering on the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team on their way to a national championship and visiting colleges. In his free time, Sam cheers on his favorite Tennessee based sports teams whenever he isn’t working or covering Millard West athletics.