Holiday Heroes: These Bucks County area athletes were on Santa's nice list last week

Our local student-athletes were in the holiday mood last week, putting up inspired performances that surely put them on Santa's nice list. However, it wasn't just a great week for athletes, as a couple of highly regarded coaches also had newsworthy moments.

Check out the top performances of the week, and then vote for the Boys Athlete of the Week and Girls Athlete of the Week. This week's polls will run from Wednesday night until Friday at 8 p.m.

Gwynedd Mercy, Dock Mennonite coaches reach milestones

Gwynedd Mercy coach Tom Lonergan earned his 200th win with the Monarchs in Friday’s victory against Conwell-Egan. Lonergan, who previously coached at CB East and Bishop McDevitt, needs just 20 more wins to achieve 800 career wins. In his 39 seasons coaching basketball, Lonergan has won four Catholic League championships and 11 Suburban One League titles − prior to his arrival at GMA − and six district championships with the Monarchs.

Dock Mennonite coach Mike Fergus recorded career victory No. 650 in Tuesday’s win over Phil-Mont Academy. Fergus, who previously coached at North Penn, State College HS, and in Texas, is in his 42nd season as a head coach. He surpassed 100 wins with each of his four teams. Now in his 10th season at Dock, Fergus has led the Pioneers to District One titles in 2019-20 and 2022-23, as well as multiple state playoff berths, including last year when they reached the PIAA Class AA semifinals.

Top Performances in Girls Basketball:

Luciana Snyder, Bristol

The freshman scored a game-high 18 points to give the Warriors a 36-31 win over Phil-Mont Christian.

Izzy Elizondo, New Hope-Solebury

The junior led the way to an OT victory, scoring 22 points against Hatboro-Horsham in an SOL crossover contest.

Aniya McDaniel, CB West

She scored eight of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, sinking all six of her free throw attempts, to lead the Bucks over CR North, 43-33.

Nina Meixler, New Hope-Solebury

The senior scored four of her six points in OT, when she went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, to secure a 58-53 win over Hatboro-Horsham.

Ella Mednick, William Tennent

The Panthers’ standout defender was a major contributor on offense as well against Wissahickon, scoring 10 points in the 46-37 win.

Alexa Windish, Archbishop Wood

Her team-high 17 points propelled the Vikings to a 56-44 win at the Kreul Classic in Florida.

Grace McDonough, Lansdale Catholic

The junior continued to dominate on defense with nine rebounds and four blocks, and also had a big offensive game with 17 points in a win over Bethlehem Catholic.

Olivia Boccella, Lansdale Catholic

The senior dazzled in the Crusaders win over Bethlehem Catholic, hitting eight 3-pointers for a game-high 26 points, along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Kitty Randa, Hatboro-Horsham

The Hatters lone senior led the way to a 39-36 victory over Truman, scoring a game-high 25 points. The Hatters have won three of their last four to even their record at 4-4.

Sophia Martinez, George School

The senior achieved a rare triple-double, tallying 18 points, 10 assists and 10 steals in a win over Springside-Chestnut Hill.

Kelly Donnelly, North Penn

She scored all 15 of her points on 3-pointers, leading the Knights to a big 62-51 win against Pennsbury.

Olivia Stone, North Penn

The senior scored 13 points and, more importantly, led the Knights defensively in a victory over high-powered Pennsbury.

Katie Purpura, CR South

The Golden Hawks’ defensive catalyst, Purpura had 13 rebounds and helped CR South hold CB East, a team that was averaging 50 points per game,  to 15 points in Thursday’s win. She had 11 rebounds in a win against Nazareth.

Camryn Gregory, CR South

Gregory had a game-high 17 points as the Golden Hawks dealt CB East its first loss of the season in a 48-15 win. She had another big game on Saturday, scoring 17 in a victory against Nazareth.

Zamiya Lowe, George School

The freshman impressed in the Cougars win over Springside-Chestnut Hill, scoring a game-high 21 points, to go along with seven rebounds and four steals.

Ella Brown, Pennridge

The junior recorded 19 points in just three quarters of a blowout win against Upper Perkiomen, and she followed with 18 points against CB South and 23 in a victory over Truman.

Abby Huskin, Pennridge

She was on fire from beyond the arc, sinking five 3s in just three quarters against Upper Perk and finishing with 19 points in the rout.

More: Chantal van Dongeren has the write stuff for CB East basketball, soccer

Top Performances in Boys Basketball:

Jake Cummiskey, CB East

The senior scored his 1,000th career point in Wednesday’s win over North Penn. Cummiskey had 16 points en route to the major milestone. It’s been more than 20 years since the Patriots had a 1,000-point scorer, the last being NFL player Bryan Scott in 1999. In the following game, he scored 27 points, including six in OT, in a 70-65 win over CR South.

Jagger Verbit, Faith Christian

The freshman has been putting up big numbers all season, and he had two of his best performances last week. Verbit scored 26 points in a win over Collegium Charter and he had 25 points in a win over Renaissance Academy. He is averaging 23 points per game for the 8-1 Lions.

Andrew O’Keeffe, CR North

With 10 seconds to go and his team trailing by one, O’Keefe grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the game-winning basket to give the Indians a 42-41 victory over Pennsbury. He finished with a game-high 13 points and seven rebounds in his second game back from an injury.

Jaidyn Moffitt, Bensalem

With 23 seconds remaining, Moffitt sank a pair of free throws to give the Owls the lead in a 46-44 win over Neshaminy in an SOL Patriot Division game. He also led the Owls with 22 points in an OT win over Souderton, and he had a game-high 17 points in a victory at the Diane Mosco Foundation Shootout.

Nate Townsend, Neshaminy

He scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead Neshaminy to a 58-50 win over CB South.

Nick Parisi, La Salle

The senior led the way with 24 points in a victory over Hatboro-Horsham.

Danny Dyches, Souderton

A star wide receiver and safety for Souderton football, Dyches made a game-saving block in the final seconds to secure a 43-42 win over CB West.

Truman boys basketball making progress: Coach believes 'the change is happening' this season

Idris Savadago, Bensalem

Savadago was the hero in Thursday’s OT win over Souderton. With four seconds remaining and the Owls down two, Savadago secured an offensive rebound and then hit the game-winning bucket for a thrilling 76-75 victory.

Timmy Rahill, CR South

Rahill dropped 23 points, including five 3-pointers, in a win over Truman, and he had a game-high 14 points in a victory against Holy Ghost.

Makhai Anderson, Solebury School

The junior tallied 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in a narrow defeat by highly ranked Life Center Academy (N.J.).

Robbie Sukaly, Dock Mennonite

The junior led the way with 20 points in a 53-44 win over Phil-Mont Academy and had a team-high 13 points in a win over The Christian Academy.

Kirby Mooney, William Tennent

The senior put up 21 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a victory over Lower Moreland.

Top Performances in Girls Wrestling:

Local girls wrestlers rose in the district and state rankings after big wins last week. (Rankings by PA-Wrestling.com; district rankings combine Districts 1 and 12)

MacKenna Atkinson, Souderton

The freshman is 6-0 on the season, picking up wins last week in a dual match against Pennsbury, and winning the 235-pound championship at the Bishop McCort Open. All her wins are by pin and she is ranked No. 1 in District One and No. 2 in PA by PA-Wrestling.com.

Anjaleen Siddiqui, William Tennent

The senior won the 112-pound championship at the Elizabethtown Girls BAGUBA Brawl, pinning her opponent in 1:26 in the finals. She is 7-0 on the season and the top-ranked wrestler in District One and third in the state in her weight class.

Gisele Ramirez, Souderton

The senior earned a win by fall in a dual meet versus Pennsbury, improving to 5-0 on the season and earned top-ranking in District One at 118 pounds.

Jaletsy Melendez, Pennsbury

The junior picked up her fourth win of the season (4-0) against Souderton, pinning her opponent in under a minute (0:56) and taking the third spot in the district rankings at 136 pounds.

Sophia Santiago, Pennsbury

The sophomore earned a win by fall in the Falcons first dual match of the season against Souderton, improving her season record to 3-1 and taking the top spot in the district rankings at 142 pounds.

Top Performances in Track & Field

Destini Smith, Souderton

The junior won the high jump at the Delaware Valley Girls Track Coaches Association meet, and her mark of 5-6 ranks as the best in PA this season.

Mimi Duffy, CB West

The speedy senior took first place in the girls 200-meter dash at the DVGTCA meet with her time of 25.75.

Gwen Hamilton, Archbishop Wood

The sophomore won the girls 400-meter dash at the DVGTCA meet, crossing the finish line at 58.94.

Lilly Norcross, CB East

She won the girls 3,000-meter run at the DVGTCA meet with a time of 11:09.06.

Jacquelyn Waddell, CB South

The sophomore was the pole vault champion at the DVGTCA meet, clearing 10-9.

Matthew Gorman, Conwell-Egan

He took first place in the boys mile run at the Track & Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia meet, crossing the finish line in 4:33.

Girls Basketball: Who are the top scorers in the Bucks County area?

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Holiday Heroes: Top High School Sports Performers in Bucks County