Vote: Who should be SBLive's Texas High School Athlete of the Week? (12/4/2023)

We gathered the week's top performers across every sport. Now, we want to hear from you.

Who was the top high school athlete in Texas last week?

Throughout the year, SBLive takes a look at the top high school athletes across the Lone Star State each week, gathering the top performers and putting the best of the best up for reader vote.

We're splitting our Athlete of the Week process up in order to spotlight more of the scores of tremendous performances across Texas at the beginning of each week across every sport except football (which has its own statewide offensive and defensive football player of the week polls).

Congratulations to Keiontay Marsh, Dallas Bryan Adams boys basketball standout, for winning SBLive's Athlete of the Week reader poll for Nov. 20-25, fielding more than 27,000 votes to pull away.

Here are SBLive's Texas Athlete of the Week nominees for Nov. 27 to Dec. 2. Now, we want to hear from you. Scroll down to read about this week's nominees and cast your vote in the poll below. The poll is open through Sunday, Dec. 10 at 11:59 p.m. (Central time).

Know of a performance worthy of recognition we may have missed? Let us know who we missed. Drop a note to andy@scorebooklive.com or @SBLiveTX on Twitter and Instagram and back it up with stats.

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NOMINEES

Jacy Abbi, Frisco Liberty girls basketball

The Redhawks picked up a 43-39 win in overtime against No. 2-ranked DeSoto behind 18 points from the sophomore on Nov. 30.

Aniah Alexis, Katy Cypress Lakes girls basketball

In a 61-55 loss to Montgomery Lake Creek, the Rice signee had 35 points and 12 points.

Diego Banda, Weslaco East boys wrestling

He helped the Wildcats take first place as a team at the Rumble by the Border in Hidalgo on Saturday by winning the 165-pound bracket with a 4-0 mark.

Eli Biermann, Midlothian boys wrestling

Biermann posted a 5-0 mark with all pins to take first place at 144 pounds at the Mike McCready Memorial Invitational in Colleyville. The Panthers took first place in the team standings.

Hunter Bogner, Dumas boys wrestling

He claimed the 132-pound championship at the Randall Ruckus on Saturday by going 5-0 with three pins, a tech fall and a major decision for the Demons.

Jordan Bruner, Odessa boys basketball

Scored a game-high 25 points in a 51-48 win against El Paso Bel Air in the McDonald’s Tournament on Thursday. He was named to the all-tournament team.

Helen Byrd, Friendswood girls basketball

The junior had a game-high 25 points and surpassed the 1,000th career point mark in a 50-44 loss in double overtime to Kingwood Park.

Layla Chapa, Corpus Christi Moody girls wrestling

The returning state qualifier is off to an 8-0 start and she added three wins this weekend at the Rough Rider Invitational on Saturday in San Antonio, winning the 235-pound bracket.

Kyllysta Dawkins, Schertz Clemens girls wrestling

The junior went 3-0 to open the season by taking first place at 138 pounds at the Rough Rider Invitational on Saturday in San Antonio.

Peyton Dulin, Round Rock Cedar Ridge boys basketball

The 6-foot-5 combo guard had 23 points in a win against Austin Bowie and then had 22 points against Pflugerville Weiss in a pair of games last week.

Hudson Greer, Austin Lake Travis boys basketball

The junior, who holds multiple Division I offers, had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 54-51 win over San Antonio Reagan on Nov. 28.

Jordyn Hernandez, El Paso Burges girls basketball

Competing in the Mesquite Tournament, the post had 133 points in six games and had three double-doubles, including in the Bronze Bracket Championship game on Saturday.

Ethan Martinez, Burleson boys wrestling

Martinez had three pins and won the 175-pound title match with a 5-4 decision over Rigoberto Aguilar of South Oak Cliff at the Seguin Cougar Classic on Saturday.

Jemini Mitchell, Cypress Springs girls basketball

The freshman guard scored 29 points to help secure a 64-52 win over Galena Park North Shore on Tuesday.

Akeelah Moore, Melissa girls wrestling

She improved to 13-0 on the season with 3 wins at the Coppell Cowgirl Classic on Saturday, winning all three matches by pins.

Cam Newton, College Station boys basketball

He had 16 points, six rebounds and 4 assists to help the Cougars pick up a 58-49 win over Bryan Rudder in the finals of the Madisonville Tournament on Saturday.

Cate Norden, Austin Vandegrift girls wrestling

She picked up three wins by fall to take first place in 107 pounds at the T-Town Takedown Open on Saturday in Temple.

Andrew Purvis, Birdville boys wrestling

He went 6-1 at the SGP Warrior Championships this past weekend in South Grand Prairie and avenged his loss in pool matches with a pin 39 seconds in the semifinals to win the 144-pound bracket.

Eric Ribas, Martinsville boys basketball

The junior had a team-high 25 points to help the Pirates pick up a 57-23 win over New Summerfield on Tuesday.

Joe Rodriguez, El Paso Bowie boys basketball

The junior guard dropped 27 points in a 64-36 win over El Paso Jefferson in a game on Nov. 28.

Erinn Sewell, Copperas Cove girls wrestling

In the 165-pound division, she went 4-0 with four pins — all in the first two periods — to pick up first place at the T-Town Takedown on Saturday in Temple.

Abbigail Staples, Princeton girls wrestling

Princeton took first place at the Mike McCready Memorial Invitational and Staples won the 126-pound bracket with a 4-0 mark with three pins.

KJ Thomas, Randall boys basketball

The UTEP signee scored 24 points in a 62-44 win over Amarillo on Tuesday and in the process became the school’s all-time scoring leader. He passed Nathan Maxwell’s mark of 1,886 points set 17 years ago.

La’Niah Thornton, Pearland girls basketball

The senior shooting guard hit 7 of 10 3-pointer attempts and finished with 21 points in a 70-42 win over Richmond Foster on Tuesday.

Taniya Young, Cypress Woods girls wrestling

She took first place in the 132-pound bracket at the Battle at the Woods event in Cypress Texas on Saturday, going 3-0.

-- Cody Thorn | @sblivetx


Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week features are intended to be fun and generate productive discussion. 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 that receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.


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Cody Thorn
CODY THORN

Cody Thorn is a veteran journalist who covers high school sports across the state of Texas and Missouri. He is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has covered sports and news since 1999.