Padron proves dominance for La Quinta water polo
It’s been an entertaining week of playoff action with multiple great performances to honor, but first let’s celebrate the winner of last week’s Athlete of the Week brought to you by Pocial.
You voted and you chose Eliana Padron of La Quinta water polo. Padron was instrumental in the Blackhawks’ regular-season run, and even after you chose her as the Pocial Athlete of the Week, she’s validated that by leading her team all the way to the CIF-SS semifinals.
Padron was the high scorer with four goals as the Blackhawks edged Indio to win the third-place match at the Desert Empire League carousel. Now she’s got La Quinta on the doorstep of the finals.
This week’s winner is up to you. Read what these five talented athletes accomplished and vote at desertsun.com in the poll at the bottom of this article.
The winner will be whoever is leading the vote tally at noon on Friday. Happy voting!
Isaac Carillo, Shadow Hills soccer
What he did: Carillo carried his team to a pair of road playoff wins, scoring two goals and adding an assist in a 4-1 win over Nuview Bridge and then adding another goal in a 3-2 win over Ramona to lift the Knights into the quarterfinals.
Katelyn Gallagher, Palm Desert basketball/soccer
What she did: She scored a penalty kick to help the soccer team win its playoff opener at Palm Desert, then drove to Riverside to meet the basketball team and scored 28 points to lift them to win. In the second round she helped the soccer team win again 2-1 and then scored 32 points in an overtime loss for the basketball team. Amazing.
Marcus Gragg-Buchanan, Rancho Mirage basketball
What he did: Playing like a seasoned veteran, the freshman guard calmly helmed the Rattlers to a pair of playoff wins last week, scoring 23 in a win over Desert Christian Academy and 28 more in a win over California High.
Kamryn Mercado, La Quinta water polo
What she did: Mercado scored twice during a 4-0 fourth-quarter blitz that allowed the Blackhawks to rally from 5-2 down for a dramatic 6-5 win in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs against Chaffey.
Miguel Saldana, Indio wrestling
What he did: The Rajahs’ big man picked up a CIFSS Southern Division title over the weekend at 285 pounds. As the No. 2 seed, he had three pins and a 6-2 decision to set up a championship match against No. 1 seed Justice ElSayad of Temecula Valley. Saldana dominated the match leading 8-2 when he pinned ElSayad i the third period for the title.