Vote now: Who should be SBLive’s Nebraska Athlete of the Week? (Feb. 6-12)

Here are this week’s candidates

By Nathan Charles 

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week for Feb. 6-12. Read through the nominees and cast your vote. Voting will conclude Sunday at 11:59 p.m. If you would like to make a nomination in a future week, email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com.

Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll are 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.

Taryn Arbuthnot, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller Girls Basketball

Arbuthnot announced her presence early when she scored 14 and shot 7 of 12 in the first game of her varsity career. Since then she’s had 13 more games in double digits and put up a new career-high Friday when she scored 26. Arbuthnot was an efficient 7 of 12 on the night and 12 of 15 at the line. She added six steals and five rebounds to her totals. In her first year, Arbuthnot has already scored 256 points, made 100 field goals and is shooting 46%.

Carter Anderson, Gordon-Rushville Senior

Anderson was on fire from the perimeter in a Feb. 7 road win over Mitchell, sinking seven three-pointers and scoring 23 points. He also grabbed four rebounds and handed out three assists. His scoring total and made threes were both new career highs. Anderson is shooting 37% from three for the season and went over 100 threes for his career in the win.

Bailee Durant, South Sioux City Girls Basketball

Durant is just a freshman in a storied program, but it looks like she’s well on her way to becoming the next Cardinal legend. In her first year, she’s already averaging almost 14 points per game, has scored more than 20 three times and put up 27 in Friday’s road win over Gross. In the best scoring game of her career thus far, Durant was 9 of 13 shooting, 4 of 5 from long range and made five free throws. She also had six steals. The night before she had 21 in what became her first back-to-back 20-point games.

Landon Classen, O’Neill Senior

Classen scored over 30 points for the fourth time this season and posted his third-highest total of the season during a Feb. 7 win over Plainview when he scored 33. He needed just 16 shots to reach his total thanks to going 5 for 7 from three-point range and sinking seven free throws. Classen also pulled down five rebounds and dished out eight assists – his second-highest assist total of the year.

Stella Heapy, Medicine Valley Girls Basketball

Heapy notched the sixth 20-point game of the season and the 12th of her career when she had a season-high 25 points in Thursday’s win over Maxwell. Her night included 10 of 22 shooting, 5 of 6 from the line, eight assists, seven rebounds and four blocks. Heapy has scored 339 points, put together three double-doubles and has flirted with triple-doubles on several occasions. She has five games with six or more assists and four others with six or more steals.

Josiah Dotzler, Bellevue West Senior

Dotlzer had perhaps the best game of his career in a Saturday win over Bishop Walsh (Maryland) during the Heartland Hoops Classic. For a guy who’s achieved just about everything in his varsity career, Dotzler hit the 30-point mark for the first time. The Bell West point guard was 10 of 16 shooting, 8 of 10 at the line and had seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Tonja Heirigs, North Platte St. Pat’s Girls Basketball

Heirig scored over 20 points for the seventh game in a row and made at least three three-pointers in a game also for the seventh straight game during a Feb. 7 win over Dundy County-Stratton. Her recent stretch of offensive success includes 171 total points and 30 made threes. Heirig has nearly half of her made threes during the past three weeks and is shooting 39% from beyond the arc since Jan. 20.

Rylin Johns, Paxton Senior

Johns scored more than 20 points for the first time this season and was just one away from his first 30-point game in a Feb. 7 win over Paxton. The senior sank five three-pointers and was 12 of 19 overall. Johns has had three or more three-pointers in five games this season and has hit from deep in every game but one.

Neveah Hrasky, Gering Girls Basketball

Hraksy hasn’t been known as a three-point threat much this season. She made the defense pay for that opinion in Thursday’s win over McCook when she hit 5 of 9 from the perimeter and scored 23 points. Her total was more than double her previous best this season and a new career-high by 10. Hrasky hit three threes in a game as a sophomore but only had as many as two in a game this season. Her efforts helped the Bulldogs win their second game of the season.

Quinten Koenen, South Platte Sophomore

South Platte has lost five in a row when Koenen decided that was enough and led the Blue Knights to victory on Friday over Creek Valley. Koenen had the best scoring game of his career with 30 points, 9 of 16 shooting, 5 of 6 from three-point range and 7 of 8 from the line.

Rease Murtaugh, Papillion-La Vista Girls Basketball

Murtaugh filled up the state sheet in every column during Friday’s dominant win over Westview. The sophomore tied her career high with 27 points by shooting 10 of 16 from the floor. Those numbers included 6 of 9 from the free throw line and seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Murtaugh has four games with five or more made three-pointers and is shooting 34% from the perimeter. She has made a three in every Papio game but two this season.

Grant Moraski, Bellevue West Boys Wrestling

Moraski and the Thunderbirds challenged themselves the first time out this season and went on the road for the Dan Gable Donnybrook in Iowa the first tournament of the season. A couple of tough losses meant Moraski finished in sixth, but he hasn’t lost a match since. The Bellevue West senior is 37-2 on the season and has won 34 in a row including the district title on Saturday. Moraski pinned two opponents and claimed his sixth tournament title of the year.

Najya O’Neal, Omaha Burke Girls Basketball

O’Neal is in the midst of the most proficient scoring stretch of her career following 25 points in a loss Tuesday at Elkhorn South. The junior has been really good since the calendar turned to 2023, posting five games of 20 points or more, but she’s been especially good lately. Before the 25-point effort against the Storm, O’Neal put up 32 and made 14 of 16 free throws in a loss to Omaha South.

Drew Morrow, O’Neill Junior

Morrow put up his second 30-point game of the season on Friday when he hit nine triples and scored 33 in a win over Ord. He was 9 of 20 from three-point range overall and put up a double-double with 12 rebounds. Morrow is shooting 35% from three this season with 57 makes and now has games with three-point totals of nine, eight and six.

Tatum Rusher, Kearney Girls Basketball

Rusher is in the middle of the best scoring stretch of her career after coming off 23 points in Friday’s win over Lincoln Southeast. Friday was the fifth straight game in which she’s scored in double figures. She went on to do that again on Saturday with 16 points and made it six in a row. Look back to a game on Jan. 12 and Rusher has been in double digits in seven of the past eight. Earlier this season she had five straight games with 10 or more points. In the past nine games, she has scored a total of 143 points.

Drew Moser, Waverly Boys Wrestling

Moser is headed to his third straight state tournament after winning the district title and his fourth tournament title of the season on Saturday in Ogallala. The Viking Junior improved to 40-1 on the season and earned three pins for his gold medal in a combined time on the mat of just 1 minute and 57 seconds. He pinned two opponents in less than a minute and won the title match in just 13 seconds. Moser has won 32 matches in a row since losing in the semifinals of the Council Bluffs Classic. He is unbeaten against Nebraska wrestlers this season and looking for more this week in Omaha after losing in the quarterfinals a year ago and then winning four in a row for a bronze medal.

Myleigh Weers, Diller-Odell Girls Basketball

Weers is only a sophomore but she’s one of the best scorers in the state regardless of age and experience. She was just two points away from a 30-point night when she had 28 in a Feb. 7 road win at Falls City. Her total was the seventh time in eight games she’s scored more than 20 points and her highest total since 31 in a Jan. 3 road win at Exeter-Milligan. And that was just the start of the week. Three nights later she scored a career-high 35, shot 14 of 23, hit four threes and had five steals.

Alexander Schademann, Fillmore Central Boys Wrestling

Schademann was a tough-luck loser in the third round of state consolations his sophomore year, missing out on a medal due to a sudden victory loss in overtime. Since then he’s been untouchable, winning a state title last season while going 56-2. This year he’ll take a perfect 51-0 record to Omaha thanks to a district title on Saturday in Albion. Schademann pinned two opponents and won the title match by 16-6 major decision. He has won 86 in a row since last suffering a loss early in his junior season.

Regan Weisdorfer, Pleasanton Girls Basketball

Weisdorfer has scored more than 20 points this season and has typically been very efficient in those performances. That was the case again Friday when she needed just 10 shots to score 22 points. Weisdorfer was 8 for 10 on the night, 3 for 5 from three-point range, made three free throws and swiped away seven steals. The senior is 20 points away from scoring 300 on the season, is averaging 14 points per game and has had five games with five or more steals.

Connor Whiteley, Scottsbluff Boys Wrestling

Whiteley has been almost untouchable this season, running his record to 37-1 on Saturday in Ralston at the Class B-2 district tournament. The Bearcat senior pinned all three of his opponents on his way to his fourth tournament title of the year and his third straight trip to the state tournament. Whiteley has been dominant all season, but especially lately. He has won 13 of his past 14, not counting forfeits, by pinfall and has 27 pins on the season.