“2015”. It’s the number that stands out in enlarged white letters in the corner of the gym. The 2014-15 season was Westside girls basketball’s first state championship since 1999. Then freshmen Quinn Weidemann and Caroline Leibel were beginning what would become a remarkable four years, and they have a chance to take one more step towards capping it off with a second state championship when they host Omaha Northwest on Thursday.

Westside is on a six game win streak and is 18-2 in their last 20; a stretch that began in Phoenix, Arizona on December 21. In those 20 games, the Warriors have outscored their respective opponents by a 1,276-869 (that’s an average of 63.8-43.45). The girls finished first runner up in wild card points at the conclusion of the regular season and were second only to Millard South by .2137 points, so, even if they lose, watch out for them to clinch the wild card to Lincoln.

On the other side of the scorer’s table will sit an Omaha Northwest team that is coming off their second-ever appearance in the state tournament appearance (which came on the tail end of a win over Westside in the district final last year). Since that win, they’ve gone from 19-9 to 14-11 and made a coaching change after former coach Donnie Johnson switched to the boys side of things to coach his son. The Huskies are lead in the scoring department by junior guard Caliana Fenceroy with 14.1 points per game and have a paint presence in Jadai Burns who averages nine rebounds per game.

Westside has won three of the last five meetings with the Huskies, but Northwest has taken the last two. One came in the district finals last year and one came by three points this season in overtime. The two are set to clash at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 22, 2018 for an automatic ticket to the state tournament at Westside.