Vote now: Who do you think was Rockford's Athlete of the Week for Jan. 8-13?
As we head into the new year, it's time once again for you to choose who you believe deserves the Rockford Register Star's high school sports Athlete of the Week, this time for the week of Jan. 8-13.
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.
Zariah Burnett, Guilford basketball
Burnett scored a game-high 14 points, including a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, before fouling out in Guilford’s 41-38 double-overtime loss at Hononegah.
Laney Cahoon, Orangeville basketball
Cahoon, a junior guard, scored 19 points to lead No. 2 Orangeville (21-1) to a 53-34 victory over No. 7 Pecatonica. Pec is now 18-3.
Taylor Davidson, Stillman Valley basketball
Davidson scored 29 points back on Jan. 8 to spark the Cardinals, who are now 17-4 in girls hoops, to a 69-31 win over Woodstock North. Davidson, who has already set three school records this season, including the most points in a single game with 41, is averaging 23.8 points, six rebounds and four assists per game.
Connor Diemel, Hononegah wrestling
Diemel defeated Cael Miller of Washington, ranked third in the state in Class 2A, 3-2 to win the title at 165 pounds at Saturday's Clint Arlis Invitational in Batavia. Diemel is ranked sixth in 3A.
Nathan Folk, Durand basketball
Folk scored 25 points — the only Bulldog in double figures — to keep Durand (14-4) close until second-leading scorer Ethan Rager picked up his fourth foul in the first two minutes of the second half in a 64-50 loss at South Beloit.
'I always knew we could win': Durand headed toward 20 wins after 40 years of losing
Cooper Hoffman, Pecatonica basketball
Hoffman scored 22 points to help No. 6-ranked Pecatonica snap Eastland’s eight-game winning streak with a 64-61 win in the semifinals of the Pecatonica MLK tournament.
Thomas Hereau, Scales Mound basketball
Hereau, a second-team All-Stater last year, scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to help Scales Mound rally past Rockford Christian 56-47 in the semifinals of the Pecatonica MLK tourney. The Hornets trailed 23-15 after one quarter and trailed by two before outscoring the Royal Lions 19-8 in the final quarter.
Preston LaBay, Oregon wrestling
LaBay pinned Noah Pearcy of Winnebago in 1:15 at 126 pounds, kickstarting a string of four straight first-period pins for Oregon in last Wednesday's dual with their rivals. Oregon rolled to a 63-12 win over Winnebago.
Ross Robertson, South Beloit basketball
Robertson had 31 points, 15 rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals in South Beloit’s 64-50 win over Durand. South Beloit improved to 11-4 and Durand fell to 14-4.
Olivia Robinson, Hononegah basketball
Robinson scored 13 points to help Hononegah win its 46th consecutive conference game with a 41-38 double-overtime win over Guilford.
Noah Wenzel, Dakota wrestling
Although Dakota got hammered 48-18 in one of the area's most anticipated wrestling duals of the year (every year) between Lena-Winslow/Stockton and Dakota last Thursday, Wenzel, ranked No. 1 at 215, defeated Le-Win/Stockton's 215-pounder Mike Haas, ranked third, by a 7-3 tally. Dakota forfeited seven weight classes in the dual.
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. 8-13
