Vote: Who should be SBLive's Louisiana High School Athlete of the Week? (2/26/2024)
Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Louisiana High School Athlete of the Week for Feb. 19-25. Read through the nominees and cast your vote. Voting will conclude Sunday at 11:59 p.m. If you would like to nominate an athlete, please email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com or tag us on Twitter.
Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. However, we do not allow votes that are generated by script, macro or other automated means. Athletes who receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.
Trey Turnage, Pearl River baseball
Turnage threw a complete game in a run-rule shortened 13-1 win over East Jefferson, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts in five innings. Pearl River is 4-1 and No. 7 in the Division II non-select power ratings. The Rebels reached the 2023 quarterfinals.
Connor Rosenburg, Grant baseball
Rosenburg got the win in a 5-4 nail-biter vs. Leesville, striking out five with no walks. He allowed two hits over three scoreless innings. Grant is 3-1 and No. 11 in the Division II non-select power ratings. The 10th-seeded Cougars lost to eventual state champion Iowa in the 2023 second round.
Andrew Hoff, Pope John Paul II boys basketball
Hoff scored 29 points in the No. 15 Jaguars' 62-46 win over No. 18 M.L. King Charter in the opening round of the Division III select playoffs. Pope John Paul II (23-9) travels to No. 2 Dunham (25-7) in the regional round on Tuesday.
Manny Young, De La Salle boys basketball
The No. 19 Cavaliers upset No. 14 Bunkie, 39-34, in the Division II select first round. Young scored 11 points for De La Salle (15-13), which faces a local opponent in No. 3 George Washington Carver (21-6) on Tuesday.
Jackson Monica, St. Charles Catholic baseball
The Class 2A Comets took down Class 5A Jesuit, 6-5. Monica went 2-for-3 with a grand slam and four RBIs. The Delgado commit has helped the Comets to a 3-2 start. St. Charles Catholic won the 2023 Division III select state title as the No. 1 seed.
Grant Porche, Lafayette Christian baseball
The left-handed pitcher and Baton Rouge Community College commit threw a complete game with seven strikeouts in a 6-4 win over Carencro. The Knights, 3-2 and No. 6 in the Division II select power ratings, reached the second round of the 2023 playoffs.
Nico Jones, Catholic-Baton Rouge boys basketball
Jones scored 16 points with eight rebounds and two assists as the No. 15 Bears eliminated No. 18 John Curtis Christian, 52-38, in the first round of the Division I select playoffs. The defending champion Bears (13-13) take on district rival No. 2 Liberty Magnet (22-3) on Tuesday.
Michael Sarver, St. Paul's boys basketball
Sarver had 20 points in the 13th-seeded Wolves' 66-46 win over No. 20 Carencro in the Division I select playoffs. St. Paul's (22-10), the No. 13 seed, travels to No. 4 Pineville (22-4) next.
Craig Lovelady, McKinley boys basketball
The No. 14 Panthers earned a 47-31 Division I select opening round playoff win over No. 19 Archbishop Rummel. Lovelady had 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, according to Robin Fambrough of The Baton Rouge Advocate. McKinley (21-10) advances to face No. 3 Captain Shreve (27-5).
Carter White, Airline baseball
White was the winning pitcher against Evangel Christian, striking out 13 with no walks in six innings as the Vikings prevailed, 8-1.
Tyler Hughes, Red River baseball
Hughes went 2-for-4 at the plate with a triple and an RBI, and he allowed one run over 3.1 innings with seven strikeouts in a 9-1 win over St. Mary's. The Bulldogs are 5-0 and No. 3 in the Division III non-select power ratings.
Zach White, Ouachita Christian baseball
The senior Louisiana-Monroe signee went 3-for-4 in a 12-10 win over Byrd and 2-for-4 in a 12-2 win over Loyola Prep. The Eagles, who won the 2023 Division IV select state title as the top seed, collected 49 hits in four games at the North DeSoto Tournament (11 triples).
Madison Gussman, Opelousas Catholic softball
Gussman, a sophomore, hit two home runs at the North DeSoto Tournament. The Lady Vikings, who reached the 2023 Division IV select semifinals, went 2-1 at the event with their only loss coming to undefeated North DeSoto. Opelousas Catholic (3-1) and Gussman began the season with a 3-0 shutout of Class 5A Southside.
Avery Killian, Mount Carmel softball
The Cubs, 6-0 and No. 1 in the Division I select power ratings, defeated Kinder, Rosepine and South Beauregard at the DeQuincy Tournament. Killian, a sophomore, batted .444 with two home runs.
Luke Hewitt, Catholic-New Iberia baseball
The freshman earned his first varsity win, allowing no hits or runs while striking out three and walking three over 3 2/3 innings of the Panthers' 5-2 win over Southside. Catholic-NI is 2-1 and No. 6 in the Division III select power ratings. The No. 12 Panthers lost to No. 5 Parkview Baptist in the second round of the 2023 playoffs.
Aries Lewis, Port Allen boys basketball
The "Drive for Five" straight state titles remained alive for the Division III non-select No. 21 Pelicans, who bounced No. 12 Westlake on the road, 60-48, in a first-round playoff game. Lewis, a 6-foot-6 senior, posted 24 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists. Port Allen travels to No. 5 Madison Parish next.
Jack Henry Goode, Sterlington baseball
Goode struck out seven while pitching a one-hitter over five innings of the Panthers' 7-0 win over West Ouachita. Sterlington (4-0), No. 1 in the Division III non-select power ratings, has outscored its opponents 36-6. The fourth-seeded Panthers lost to eventual state champion No. 5 Berwick in the 2023 quarterfinals.
Carter Wilson, Sulphur baseball
Wilson was named Prep Baseball Louisiana's Week 1 Standout Performer after the sophomore left-hander got the win over nationally ranked Flower Mound (Texas). Wilson went six innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Sulphur (3-2) lost to Barbe in the 2023 Division I select semifinals.
Colton Smith, Parkway baseball
The Panthers defeated Ouachita Christian, 4-3. Smith was a workhorse, scattering 10 hits and allowing three runs with five strikeouts and one walk. Parkway is 4-1 and No. 10 in the Division I non-select power ratings. The No. 9 Panthers lost to No. 8 St. Amant in the second round of the 2023 playoffs.
Shelbee Gros, E.D. White softball
Gros pitched 14 1/3 innings as the Lady Cardinals defeated Academy of Our Lady (18-2) and Destrehan (8-7) on the same day. Gros struck out 22 with five walks and allowed five earned runs. For the season, Gros has 35 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings and a 2.60 ERA for E.D. White (5-1).
Ranya Smith, Woodlawn-Baton Rouge girls basketball
Smith led the Lady Panthers with 21 points in a 64-42 win at No. 4 St. Scholastica in the Division I select quarterfinals. No. 5 Woodlawn (24-9) advances to face top-seeded Huntington at 1 p.m. in the semifinals on Thursday at the University Center in Hammond.
Payton Rowbatham, St. Thomas Aquinas girls basketball
The ninth-seeded Lady Falcons ousted No. 1 Dunham, 45-36, in the Division III select quarterfinals. Rowbatham scored 15 points for STA, which lost to No. 4 University Lab in the semifinals on Monday.
Whitney Hart, Liberty Magnet girls basketball
Hart scored a career-high 37 points in third-seeded Liberty's 67-52 win over No. 6 Carencro in the Division I select quarterfinals. Hart also had 15 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Lady Patriots (24-4), who face No. 2 John Curtis Christian (20-4) in the semifinals on Thursday.
Lane Mendoza, Episcopal boys soccer
The Knights defended their Division IV state title with a 3-1 win over second-seeded Episcopal School of Acadiana. Mendoza scored twice for eighth-seeded Episcopal (13-8-3).
Christian Turner, Haughton baseball
The junior OF/SS went 4-for-4 with a home run, his first of the year, in a win over Ruston. The Buccaneers are 4-1 and No. 9 in the Division I non-select power ratings. In 2023, No. 10 Haughton lost to No. 7 Neville in the second round of the playoffs.
Jenna Blanchard, Dutchtown softball
Blanchard, a sophomore, has helped 7-1 Dutchtown rise to No. 1 in the Division I non-select power rankings. Against Zachary on Feb. 19, she went 5-for-5 with a home run, triple, six RBIs and two stolen bases. Against Natchitoches Central on Feb. 23, she was 4-for-4 with an RBI and three steals, and against Jena the following day, was 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and one steal.
Emma Bailey, St. Thomas More softball
Bailey hit .722 (13-for-18) with eight runs scored, three RBIs and four stolen bases in a 4-1 week for the Lady Cougars.
