When Gateway Athletic Conference North girls basketball coaches gathered to vote for conference awards recently, each coach spent time talking about his or her players before voting for all-conference teams.

And when it was time to vote on the conference’s player of the year, each coach said the same thing.

“When we had the meeting, the quote from the other coaches was ‘If we’re taking these kids and building a team, the first player we’re taking is Kayla Nelson,’ ” Warrenton Head Coach Greg Williams said after Nelson was named the GAC North Player of the Year. “And for the coaches in our conference to say that is a huge compliment. That nailed it right on the head.”

Nelson averaged 18.2 points and 6.8 rebounds for Warrenton as a senior, and scored 19 points or more in five GAC North games.

“I was a little surprised, but I knew I put in the work and that I had a chance to win it,” Nelson said. “That makes me feel good that everyone wants me on their team, too. That’s a great honor.”

Nelson was going to be the focal point of the Warrenton offense after the graduation of Jenny Jansen and Kaylee Anderson last year, but things became even more challenging after senior point guard Rylie Cox injured her back in early December and missed the rest of the season.

Then fellow starter Allison Tonioli battled her own set of injuries, missing one-third of the season.

Nelson went from the most important player on the roster to determining if the Warriors won or lost most nights.

“She took on double- and triple-teams, and came out averaging over 18 a game against that,” Williams said.

Nelson’s dominance on the court wasn’t always so noticeable. 

“I didn’t know I’d be decent at it; it was just something to do,” she said after picking up the game in seventh grade. “I was awful my freshman year and wasn’t in shape, so that summer I decided to get in shape. Then I realized I had great potential and really took advantage of that.”

She averaged three points her freshman year before doubling her total a season later.

During the summer before her junior season, Williams began prepping his team for an eventual sectional matchup with state-ranked Incarnate Word in March.

If Warrenton was going to win, he knew Nelson would be a big reason.

“Coach came in here and kept telling me about Incarnate, and they were always that chip on your shoulder,” Nelson recalls. “(Incarnate forward) Rickie (Woltman) definitely made me better because I wanted to be better than her.”

After a seven-point loss to the Red Knights, Nelson returned to the gym.

“Her dad would bring her up at 6:45 in the mornings to work, and after our loss to Incarnate, she came in here every day after track practice to work on her game,” Williams said. “She came in on Saturdays and got in the gym and made herself a quality player.”

Williams said Nelson’s biggest improvements have been offensively, which led her to a basketball scholarship with John Brown University (Siloam Springs, Ark.)

“Her freshman year it was difficult to score, but she really improved there,” Williams said. “She had a 31-point game this year, and really put herself in a great position to score.”