Here are this week's candidates for the Antonio's Pizza Prime Time Performer. You can vote once every 12 hours until the polls close on Friday at 5pm. The winner will receive a $20 gift card to Antonio's Pizza!
Daulton Nibbe (Plains Guard) He did miss two free throws on Saturday, but from the floor, Nibbe was money. He made both three-pointers he attempted and all four of his other shots from the floor. The Plains #TQT star scored 18 points and dished out six assists while grabbing three steals in limited action due to the margin of defeat his team finished up with against Illini Central. It’s a different guy stepping up for the Cardinals every game it seems like and this week is was Nibbe.
Ben Leutz (Jacksonville Swimmer) A new meet record was set on Saturday at the Central State Eight swim meet. Leutz is the new record holder in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 102.93 which was good enough for one of his two first place finishes on the day. The Crimsons swimmer also picked up the top spot in the 50 yard freestyle.
Angela Perry (Rochester Forward) She’s the best player on the best team in the Central State Eight and continues to assert her dominance against everyone the Rockets play. Angela Perry scored 20 points to lead the way for Rochester against Lanphier in a 50 point win. Perry put up 20 points in that big a win, meaning she probably didn’t play a whole lot in the second half. Perry also had 22 points against the Spartans earlier in the week.
Marah Abu-Tayeh (Williamsville Guard) The Bullets started with week is a non-conference win over Mt. Pulaski led by 22 points from Marah and then she scored the most points for her team again on Thursday against North Mac to seal the outright Sangamo conference crown for Williamsville with 15. Marah makes the Bullet’s offensive attack so much faster, along with her sister Farah, and these two are ready to shoot the Bullets into the postseason.
Edthao Crumb (Lanphier wrestler) No better time for revenge than in regionals, right? The Lanphier senior's only loss this season came at the hands of Glenwood freshman Will Putnam. On Saturday, Crumb picked up his 23rd win of the season with a 6-2 decision over Putnam for a regional title in the heavyweight division of the 2A Springfield Wrestling Regional. Watch out for the big Lion grappler in the Mahomet-Seymour sectional this Saturday.
Auburn Wrestling Team – The hardware continues to roll into the hallways of Auburn High School. For the first time ever, the Trojans have added a wrestling regional title to their collection. Matt Grimm’s grapplers scored 202 points in the 1A Shelbyville regional, which blew away the closest team…Monticello. Five individuals won regional titles including Cole Maxedon, Noah Mayes, Wade Knepler, Evan Patterson and Peyton Hudspeth and plenty more Trojans advanced to individual sectionals, which is their focus until team sectionals in two weeks.
Jacquez Stewart (Springfield wrestler) Some Senators may not have expected to win a regional title coming in to Saturday, but Stewart certainly did. Nearing forty wins on the season as a freshman, the 120 pound wrestler stormed his way through the bracket and capped it off with a 9-2 win in the title match over his Riverton opponent that qualified for state last year. The Solons have plenty of quality wrestlers and Stewart will simply add to their lineup for the next three years.
Brandon McCombs (Jacksonville Forward) There are plenty of options to choose from for the Crimsons for Prime Time Performer, but we’ll go with the double-double machine Brandon McCombs this week. James White (16 points) would have been a great choice, but McCombs loaded up the stat sheet as well. The junior forward poured in 13 points and snatched 13 boards as Jacksonville snapped Southeast’s nine game winning streak and swept the season series against the Spartans. The combo of McCombs and Tyler Rose makes the Crimsons a serious threat to continue to muddy up the rest of the CS8 this season.
Cardell McGee (Lanphier Forward) The Lions are back at the top of the Central State Eight and McGee did the dirty work on Friday to fuel Lanphier past a tough Glenwood team on the road. Yeah, of course, Xavier Bishop scored 23 points…go figure. But it was McGee who added seven points and grabbed 16 rebounds to go with three assists and four steals against the Titans. We’ll ignore his free throw shooting in this one based on the 13 defensive boards he snagged to help Lanphier pick up win number 17 and number 11 in the CS8.
Ryan Roscetti (Riverton Guard) Not only did he lead his team in scoring with a quiet 15 points, but you can tell that the kid they call Ro is the clear leader of this Hawk squad that is still undefeated in the Sangamo. Roscetti controls the Riverton offense and got his teammates going on Friday against the Pretzels before he got his buckets. A excellent facilitator and court general, Roscetti can also dazzle the crowd with his crossover and find ways to get to the tin despite his small frame.
Jack Healy (SHG Hockey) He told us that when he returned the ice, he hoped we would be there to see what he had against Glenwood. When it was time to put up or shut up, the Cyclone hockey stud came through in the clutch. Healy scored two goals and had an assist in SHG’s biggest game of the season against their rivals from Chatham on Wendesday to earn the Cycs the second spot in the playoffs. Watching Healy on skates is worth the price of admission, we’re just hoping we get to see him go up against Brandon Hay again this week in the playoffs.
Max Muller (PORTA Forward) After going through a tough stretch of their schedule, it seems the Bluejays are flying high again and a major reason why is Max Muller. The junior forward can straight up get buckets and if he’s putting up big numbers, then PORTA is a threat against anybody. Muller scored 19 points to lead the Jays to a big home win over Athens and then followed that up with a 27 point performance in PORTA’s nine point win over Macomb on Friday. We’ll see what Muller can do on Tuesday against a tough Riverton team that plays lock down defense but last week he definitely earned a nod in Prime Time Performer.
Harrison Creswell (Williamsville Forward) It’s hard to calibrate the defensive presence that Creswell provides for the Bullets because most teams simply avoid the paint when the big man is clogging up the middle. That explains why teams struggle so much to score against Williamsville. Not only is he a defensive force, Creswell puts up points on the other end of the floor too. He led the team in scoring with 15 points against New Berlin on Tuesday and then scored 20 points on Saturday against Urbana in a huge road win for the Purple and Gold.
