Each week, publications from the Southern California News Group’s 11 properties (Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts, Whittier Daily News and Pasadena-Star News) select the Athletes of the Week for their respective region.
Each athlete is then entered into the overall Southern California Athlete of the Week vote.
Click on the newspaper links below the athlete’s name to read about their performance from last week, and then vote for who you think deserves the top honor.
Readers are allowed to vote multiple times. Voting ends at midnight, but final totals aren’t always immediately reflected due to processing.
GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK VOTING
The overall winner will be announced on Friday, December 16.
Voting poll at bottom of the page.
Malcolm Bell, Diamond Bar: Bell was named MVP of the Glendora tournament after the Brahmas (11-2) defeated Bishop Amat 45-44 in the championship game. Bell had 12 points, eights rebounds and five assists in Diamond Bar’s win over San Dimas in the semifinals, and had 27 points with 10 assists in a win over Bell. It was the second straight tournament title for the Brahmas, and second straight tourney MVP honor for Bell.
Vinny Garcia, Laguna Hills: The linebacker had 7.5 tackles, including two tackles for loss, in the Hawks’ 28-27 win over Bellarmine Prep in the CIF State Division 3-A Championship bowl game Saturday. Garcia had two third-down sacks in the second half that forced Bellarmine to punt as the Hawks (15-1) overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half to win their first state football championship. “Vinny felt that he didn’t play well in the first half,” said Laguna Hills coach John Lester, “and then he led us so much defensively in that second half.”
Anthony Hrboka, San Pedro: Hrboka helped lead the Pirates to a 3-0 record last week. He had 13 points and seven assists in a win over Santa Fe, 24 points and six assists in a win over Dorsey and nine points and eight assists as the Pirates opened Marine League play by defeating Carson.
Aaron Mikey Williams, St. John Bosco: The 6-foot-1 senior cornerback made a key interception and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown against San Mateo Serra in the CIF State championship game Saturday, Dec. 10. Williams went all out on the play and dove for the end zone and touched the pylon for the touchdown that put St. John Bosco up 21-0 early in the second quarter. Williams finished the game with 4.5 tackles, one tackle for loss and one interception. Bosco’s defense shut out Serra in the 45-0 victory. Williams is a four-star recruit who is committed to Louisville.
Dusty Stromer, Notre Dame: The 6-foot-6, Gonzaga-bound wing averaged 30 points in a trio of games against some of the country’s best teams. Stromer scored 30, 28 and 32 points, respectively, against DeMatha of Maryland, Brophy Prep (Arizona) and Duncanville (Texas), the No. 1 ranked team in the country. The Knights, who were missing Mercy Miller (injured), went 2-1 in those games.
Michael McNair, Linfield Christian: McNair, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 30.5 points, 10 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game as the Lions won a pair of nonleague games and improved to 11-0. McNair started the week by scoring 23 points in a blowout victory over Tahquitz. He followed that with season highs of 38 points and 15 rebounds while leading Linfield Christian to an 85-51 win over Lakeside. McNair is averaging 23.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
