Help us select our high school Athletes of the Week
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News and East Bay Times) girls and boys Athlete of the Week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.
This week, we consider performances from January 15-20.
Polls can be found on our websites — mercurynews.com/sports/high-school-sports/ or eastbaytimes.com/sports/high-schoolsports/ — where voting closes at 5p.m. Wednesday.
Vote as many times as you'd like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.
Winners are announced each Friday online and in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections. Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@ bayareanewsgroup.com.
We accept nominations until 11a.m. each Monday. We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians. On to the nominees:
GIRLS
Karena Eberts, Miramonte basketball:
Eberts scored 30points and surpassed 1,000career rebounds in a victory over Clayton Valley. Eberts then scored 28 points to help beat Washington.
Cece Giguere, Lincoln-San Jose soccer:
Giguere scored four goals, including three in the first half, in a 7-1victory over Sobrato. That gave her 16 goals on the season.
Vallory Kuelker, Pinewood basketball:
Kuelker, a junior, had an unbelievable shooting performance against University, hitting 10of 113-pointers and scoring 30points.
Sofia Kwan, Mills basketball:
Kwan, a junior, knocked down the buzzer-beating game-winner from midrange to give Mills a 33-31win over Aragon. Kwan also scored 14 in a win over Half Moon Bay.
Ruiqi Liu, Menlo School basketball:
Liu scored 21points and had 12rebounds in a 40-30win over Crystal Springs Uplands, and had 15points and three steals in a 5232 win over Aptos.
Maile Nguyen, Granada wrestling:
Nguyen, a senior, won the 123-pound division at the Mid-Cals tournament in Gilroy.
Vivian Ong, Monta Vista basketball:
Ong, a senior, scored 11points in Monta Vista's victory against Homestead. She also scored nine points against Los Gatos.
Makayla Powell, Mt. Diablo basketball:
Powell, a senior, secured her 10th doubledouble of the season when she scored 14 points and grabbed 13rebounds in a win over College Park.
Ayla Rege, Salesian basketball:
Rege, a senior, scored 34points in Salesian's 6545victory over Redwood. Rege, a 4.5GPA student, scored 72total points over four Pride victories last week.
Hailey Smith, Castro Valley soccer:
Smith scored the game-winning goal in Castro Valley's 1-0win against Berkeley. It was her 14th goal this year.
Nicole Steiner, Los Gatos basketball:
Steiner, a junior, had back-to-back games with 20-plus rebounds in Los Gatos victories. She put up 15points and 20rebounds against Fremont-Sunnyvale, and then 20 and 21against Monta Vista.
Mia Talalele, Santa Clara basketball:
Talalele, a junior, scored 23points in Santa Clara's win over Wilcox. The sister of USC offensive lineman Amos Talalele is approaching 1,000career points.
BOYS
Noel Cabrales, Newark Memorial soccer:
The senior had his second hat trick of the season in a 4-1win over James Logan. He had two goals in a 6-0win over American, giving him 27 goals this year.
Antonio Kellogg Jr., Ygnacio Valley basketball:
The 6-foot-3 junior led the way with 21points as Ygnacio Valley routed Clayton Valley 66-39in a showdown for first place in the DFAL. He also scored 23 points in a win over El Cerrito.
Braddock Kjellesvig, De La Salle basketball:
He had 16 points and eight rebounds as the Spartans beat Dublin to remain unbeaten in EBAL play while sending the Gaels to their first league loss.
Nolan Koch, Los Gatos basketball:
The 6-5senior averaged 20.7points per game as Los Gatos defeated SCVAL De Anza rivals Milpitas, Gunn and Palo Alto.
Lucas Nguyen, Santa Clara soccer:
The senior had two goals and assisted on another as Santa Clara beat Los Altos 5-1.
Gavin Cook Whisenton, Liberty basketball:
With first place on the line in the Bay Valley Athletic League, the senior guard scored 23points as the Lions rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat Pitt 76-69.
Asher Meighen, Half Moon Bay basketball:
He finished with 25 points, five rebounds and four steals as Half Moon Bay beat Carlmont 58-51.
Cody Merrill, Gilroy wrestling:
The senior won the 288-pound division at the Gilroy Mid-Cals, defeating Declan Follette of Laguna Creek by fall in the final. Merrill's victory helped Gilroy win the team title.
Eric Schmidtke, Menlo School soccer:
The senior had a goal and an assist in a 3-0 victory over Priory and a goal in a 6-0win over Eastside Prep.
Zion Sensley, Archbishop Riordan basketball:
The 6-8Saint Mary's-bound senior capped a sensational week by scoring 24 points to lead the Crusaders to a 69-58win over state powerhouse Centennial-Corona at the Crush in the Valley.
Wyatt Sparling, Branham basketball:
The 6-4 senior led the Bruins with 20 points as they defeated Oak Grove 60-46 to improve to 16-1overall and 5-0in the BVAL's Mt. Hamilton Division.