Recently, the Millard West girls’ basketball team cemented themselves in class A Nebraska girls’ basketball history, winning back-to-back state championships. With this massive accomplishment, I started to wonder: Was this the best two-year run in the history of class A Nebraska girls’ basketball?

Due to the immense amount of time that the league has been around, and the massive shift in how basketball is played, I decided to confine my search to 2002 and on, as this is when the sport changed. The only teams that won back-to-back since 2002 are Bellevue West (09,10), Pius X (20,21), and now Millard West (24,25). I have a few things that I’ll be taking into account. These things are: points for vs. points against, final record, and overall roster strength based on the distribution of the main five stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks). I will be using maxpreps.com to get all the information. These stats are free to anyone who creates an account, so if you want to dig deeper on your own, feel free to click on the link provided

Starting with points for vs points against, which, if you are unaware, is how many points are scored in a season in comparison to how many points were allowed. Coming at last by a considerable margin is Bellevue West at a mere 834 points over the two seasons. While that is incredible in the grand scheme of things, when talking about the best two-year stretches in state history, it just won’t do. Second place goes to Pius X, who had a 1,187-point differential. While this is insane to see, as they won by an average of just under 23 points per game over two seasons, Millard West annihilates them at an outlandish 1,414-point differential. With an incredible number like that, the Wildcats lead here, and it’s not close.

Next, I will be looking at the final records. This one is straightforward, as all I’ll be looking at is the winning percentage over the two seasons. Once again, Bellevue West comes in last place at a rough 88.46 (46-6) percent, which is over eight percent less than the second-place team, Millard West. West posted an impressive 96.49 (55-2) percent over the two seasons, in which they played the most games out of all three teams. First place goes to Pius X, who posts a 98.08 (51-1) win percentage over the two years in which they won state. While this is incredibly impressive, Millard West was still very close, which is not how it was in the previous category, so I still have West in first, with Pius X following closely behind in second, and Bellevue West miles behind in third.

Now, onto the final category, I will be interpreting the stats with my own opinion, as I would need things like box plus-minus, usage rate, etc., and high school sports don’t track any of those things. Unfortunately, Bellevue West didn’t post the player stats, but it would’ve been impossible for them to have reasonably made a comeback in the competition. When looking at West and Pius, you can see that both teams have a star player. Creighton commit Neleigh Gessert leads the Wildcats in points, steals, and blocks, while Alexis Markowski, one of the best players who has played at UNL in their team’s history, led the Thunderbolts in points, rebounds, and blocks. Both players led in only three categories, but the difference maker to me is the fact that the Wildcats had multiple players score double digits in each season, while Markowski was the only player to score double digits in either season. Now, if you asked me who was better, Gessert or Markowski, I would have to go with Markowski, but having the best player doesn’t make your team the best. The Thunderbolts would likely not have made the playoffs without Markowski, while the Wildcats had players like Norah Gessert, Kylee Paben, and Jade Lewis (one season) who made a significant impact on the court and definitely would’ve fought in the playoffs on their own.

With all the facts that have been presented, it’s still hard to give a sure answer on which team had the best run, as it comes down to what one person values. I think it’s safe to say that this battle is between the Millard West Wildcats and the Pius X Thunderbolts, as in reality, Bellevue West didn’t compare with either team. When it comes to who was the best, I personally value things like team strength and overall dominance, rather than one player who takes over, and because of that, I believe that Millard West has had the best two-year run in the history of Nebraska Class A girls basketball. Regardless of which team you think is best, I think anyone can agree that both teams are the No. one and two, and are what teams will strive to be in the future.