Vote now: Who do you think was the Rockford area's Athlete of the Week for Jan. 15-20?
Nasty weather couldn't keep all the games and matches from taking place last week, and there are plenty of standout performances to choose from for the Rockford Register Star Athlete of the Week for the week of Jan. 15-20.
Almost every week we nominate a group of stars and you get to go and vote in our poll. The voting at rrstar.com ends at noon on Friday. You can email Jay Taft at jtaft@rrstar.com by 9 a.m. each Monday to submit a potential nominee who can be placed on the ballot.
Lily Esparza, Boylan basketball
Esparza had 30 points, 17 rebounds, five blocked shots, three steals and two assists — including one on a 3-pointer that put Boylan ahead to stay — in a 55-51 double-overtime win at Byron.
Macy Groharing, Byron basketball
Groharing, the sophomore point guard, had 19 points in Byron's double-OT setback to Boylan on Wednesday, and she followed that up with 31 points and six steals in Byron's 60-52 win over Lutheran on Saturday night.
High school sports: Byron in spotlight in Rockford's top basketball games to watch this week
Thomas Hereau, Scales Mound basketball
Hereau scored 33 points — including 28 of his team’s 42 points in the second and third quarters — in No. 9 Scales Mound’s 82-71 loss to Pecatonica in the finals of Pecatonica’s MLK tournament.
Kyle Jones, Byron wrestling
Jones, along with Carsen Behn (165) and Jared Claunch (285), earned a second-place finish at Saturday's Bob Mitton Invitational wrestling tournament at Orion, lifting the Tigers to a first-place finish as a team. Jones had two first-period pins and one second-period pin to get to the finals at 190, where he lost in sudden-death overtime. Byron scored 189 points to edge Riverdale (184) for the team title.
Cammyla Macias, Rochelle wrestling
Along with Dempsey Atkinson, who won the title at 155, Macias claimed the Interstate 8 Conference title at 120 on Saturday as Rochelle hosted this year's girls conference tourney. Dempsey wrestled just one match, and won with a 39-second pin, while Macias needed a pin in 1:52 and a major decision victory in the finals.
Mason Peterson, Pecatonica basketball
Peterson scored 20 points and made six 3-pointers to lead No. 6-ranked Pecatonica to an 82-71 victory over No. 9 Scales Mound in the title game of the Pecatonica MLK tournament. It was the second time Pec beat the Hornets this season.
Brody Sendele, Hononegah wrestling
Sendele, just a freshman at Hononegah, defeated Lena-Winslow/Stockton senior Jared Dvorak 15-7 in a major-decision victory last Wednesday as Hononegah won its 14th dual of the season, 44-27. Sendele is ranked third at 157 in Class 3A, while Dvorak is ranked fourth at 157 in 1A. Hononegah is ranked 11th in 3A as a team, and Le-Win/Stockton is ranked seventh as a team in 1A.
Whitney Sullivan, Orangeville basketball
Sullivan, a 6-3 Tulsa recruit, had 30 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots and a trio of 3-pointers to lead No. 2-ranked Orangeville to a 58-54 win over No. 8 Freeport Aquin.
Devin Titus, Harlem bowling
The Harlem junior rolled a 253 late in the match and had a team-high 1,393 series to spark the Huskies to the Jefferson Sectional team bowling title on Saturday. The Huskie boys will lead the local charge at the state bowling tourney this Friday and Saturday at St. Clair Bowl in O'Fallon.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Vote now for the Rockford-area Athlete of the Week for Jan. 15-20
