New Madrid County Central's AJ Ruff voted SBLive’s Missouri High School Athlete of the Week (3/20/2024)

AJ Ruff scored a season-high 21 points to help Eagles win title

Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports | Mar 20, 2024

Congratulations to New Madrid County Central boys basketball player AJ Ruff, who was voted the SBLive Missouri High School Athlete of the Week for March 4-10.

He received more than 43 percent of total votes for the week.

Ruff, a senior, had a season-high 21 points, hitting 8 of 14 shots, to help the Eagles repeat as the Missouri Class 3 boys basketball champions.

John Burroughs boys basketball player Ramzi Salem finished second in the voting after receiving more than 28 percent of the votes.

SBLive Sports Athlete of the Week winner — SBLive Athlete of the Week winner

• Check out our Missouri Athlete of the Week page

PREVIOUS WINNERS: Liberty North's Alex Couch (Feb. 26-March 3), Grain Valley's Sevi Aumua (Feb. 19-25), Villa Duchesne's Grace Kraeger (Feb. 12-18), Versailles' Ryder Williams (Feb. 5-11), Springfield Central's Tyrique Brooks (Jan. 29-Feb. 4), Versailles' Ryder Williams (Jan. 22-28), Lee’s Summit West's Logan Bishop (Jan. 15-21), Liberty North's Kennedy Herrig (Jan. 8-14), Smithville's Noellie Parrott (Jan. 1-7), Blue Springs' Jayla Cornelius (Dec. 25-31), Laquey's Alexis Shelton (Dec. 11-17), Pembroke Hill's Holly Woods (Dec. 4-10), Raytown South's Jayla McClinton (Nov. 27-Dec. 3), Kearney's Casey Rooney (Nov. 20-26), Hillsboro's Payton Brown (Nov. 13-19), Logan-Rogersville's Stewart McDonald (Nov. 6-12), Marquette's Robert Williams (Oct. 30-Nov. 5), St. Pius X's Justin Lehn (Oct. 23-29), Portageville's Jamarion Smith (Oct. 16-22), Lutheran North's James Bryant (Oct. 9-Oct. 15), Incarnate Word Academy's Sammi Bergjans (Oct. 2-Oct. 8), St. Joseph’s Academy's Paige Jackson (Sept. 25-Oct. 1), Oakville's Nina Cillo (Sept. 18-24), Grain Valley's Ty Williams (Sept. 11-17), Oakville's Amelia Wiesler (Sept. 4-10), Christian Brothers' Cole McKey (August 28-Sept. 3), St. Pius X's Elena Ruble (August 21-27).

Click on the story below for another look at the nominees:

Vote: Who should be SBLive's Missouri High School Athlete of the Week (3/11/2024)?

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz

Published Mar 20, 2024

NATE LATSCH, SBLIVE SPORTS

Nate Latsch is a Regional Editor at SBLive Sports overseeing high school coverage for Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. A veteran sportswriter and multimedia content creator, Latsch has covered high school sports in the St. Louis area and Missouri for 20 years, with a focus on high school football, basketball, baseball and football and basketball recruiting. He has worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, STLhighschoolsports.com, the Associated Press, FOX Sports Midwest, MLB.com and Scout.com. In addition to covering high school sports, Latsch has covered youth, college and professional sports, including covering the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues and St. Louis Rams, the University of Missouri and Saint Louis University.