Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys Athlete of the Week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.
This week, we consider performances from Dec. 9-14.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.
Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
Scroll to the bottom for the poll.
Winners are announced each Friday online and in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.
Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.
We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.
We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
On to the nominees:
Grayson Boustead, Northgate basketball: The senior led the way with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting as the Broncos turned back Antioch 66-44. Earlier in the month, he had 29 points on 11-of-12 shooting in a 77-66 win over Acalanes.
Trevor Cadigan, Menlo-Atherton basketball: The senior scored 27 points, 21 on seven 3-pointers, to lead the Bears to a 67-47 nonleague triumph over The King’s Academy.
Seth Evans, Moreau Catholic football: The junior was credited with a team-leading 11 tackles, two behind the line of scrimmage, in the Mariners’ 42-8 rout of Lindsay for the Division 7-AA state championship in Fullerton. Nine of the tackles were unassisted.
Samuel Gillaspy, Alhambra basketball: In four games during the week, the senior averaged 19.75 points and four 3-pointers. Alhambra went 3-1, including wins over Irvington and Arroyo to capture the Arroyo tournament title. Gillaspy received tournament MVP recognition.
Hector Gonzalez, James Logan soccer: The senior had three goals and two assists in a 10-0 triumph over Irvington in Mission Valley Athletic League play. Two days earlier, he had a goal in a 2-2 tie against American in a league match.
Jayden Minor, Mountain View basketball: Scored 24 points to help lead the Spartans to a 71-42 victory over Scotts Valley. Earlier in the week, the senior had 13 points in a 66-44 win over Harker. Mountain View began this week 5-1.
Jasir Rencher, Archbishop Riordan basketball: The Texas A&M-bound guard sank a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to lift the Crusaders to a 52-51 victory over Salesian in the Gridley Invitational Tournament championship game on Saturday night. Rencher finished with 12 points.
Jamar Searcy, Pittsburg football: Washington State-bound senior capped his Pittsburg career with a brilliant performance, finishing with 290 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns in a 28-26 loss to Lincoln-San Diego for the Division 1-AA state championship in Mission Viejo.
Eric Serrano, Gunderson soccer: The senior had a sensational match in a 6-2 victory over Silver Creek, leading the way with five goals. He has found the back of the net six times on the season for a team that enters this week 1-1-2.
Joseph Shelton, Lincoln-San Jose basketball: The senior was a scoring machine, finishing with 30 points in a 56-42 victory over Sobrato and 20 points in a 71-46 win over Yerba Buena. He began this week averaging a Central Coast Section-best 25.8 points per game.
