910Preps Athlete of the Week January 2025

HIGH-SCHOOLWe have yet another strong list of nominees looking to join last week’s winner Devin Tew, a senior swimmer from Pine Forest.© 2025 www.fayobserver.com. All rights reserved.Another week of high school sports is behind us, and it’s time to recognize outstanding performances from Cumberland County student-athletes with the 910Preps Athlete of the Week award.Vote in the poll below as often as you like until 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan 23. Results will be announced Friday. Coaches and athletic directors are asked to send nominees to mholland@fayobserver.com each week.910Preps Athlete of the Week nominees for Jan. 13-19, 2025:Danauje Brooks, South View girls basketball — The Tigers’ senior point guard and Kentucky State commit scored a career-high 51 points against Gray’s Creek, sinking 11 3-pointers to tie for third place in NCHSAA girls basketball history for 3-point goals made in a game. Brooks made half of her 3-point attempts and shot 48% from the field with five rebounds, four steals and three assists. She also scored 44 in a win over Cape Fear to go over 2,000 for her career, and 32 in a win over Trinity Christian in the first round of the MLK Dream Jam on Saturday, averaging 42.3 points in a 3-0 week for United 8 Conference-leading South View (13-3, 6-0).Thaliana Brown, Westover girls wrestling — Wrestling at 115, Brown had won by fall as Westover beat Western Harnett to improve to 6-0 in the All American Conference last week, and she added two more pins as the Wolverines finished in first place at Saturday’s Eagle Duals at Western Harnett in Lillington.Yabniel Cheveres, South View boys basketball — The Tigers senior scored 21 and made 5-of-7 3-point attempts in a U8 win over Cape Fear and then scored 11 points with five rebounds, four assists and three steals in a 62-58 overtime win against Enloe in a Saturday’s Hoop State MLK Showcase game at Garner. South View went 3-0 for the week and is tied with Seventy-First at 5-1 for the conference lead.Mia Cordero, E.E. Smith girls basketball — Cordero scored 20 points and the guard grabbed six rebounds to help E.E. Smith (9-6, 5-2) hold off Westover 47-45 in a battle for second place in the All American Conference. Cordero had 10 assists in the 2-0 week for the Golden Bull-ettes.Jack Kancler, Pine Forest boys wrestling — A state championship qualifier at 150 as a sophomore last season, Kanckler won by fall last week as the Trojans blanked Harnett Central (84-0) to improve to 6-0 the AAC. He also took first place in his division at the Coach T Memorial Classic, held Saturday at Riverside in Durham in honor of Walt “Coach T” Tolarchyk, beating Beckham Enoch of tournament team champ Cardinal Gibbons by a 4-1 decision in the championship final. Pine Forest finished third as a team, with the Trojans’ Nicholas Paddock taking first place in the 190-pound class.Allison Lett, Freedom Christian girls basketball — A 6-foot-2 sophomore center, Lett notched a pair of double-doubles in a 2-0 week for the Patriots (9-6, 7-1 NCISAA Sandhills) with 28 points and 16 rebounds against Fayetteville Christian, and 23 points and 16 rebounds against Northwood Temple. She also posted five and six blocks, respectively. She ranks seventh in the state in rebounds per game (14.6), 15th in blocks per game (3.6) and 24th in points per game (22.9), according to MaxPreps — leading the NCISAA in all those categories. She has 10 double-doubles in 15 games this season.

• Geronimo Sanchez, Cape Fear boys basketball — Sanchez made a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to beat Jack Britt 49-48 on Tuesday. It was his first 3-pointer of the season and just the second of his career. The big shot came after Cape Fear inbounded from the other end of the court with 5.9 seconds remaining. Damien Gary dribbled upcourt and found Sanchez, a 6-3 junior forward who splits time as the Colts’ quarterback, a few steps behind the arc for the buzzer-beater from the wing. He had 16 points and 18 rebounds as Cape Fear went 1-1 last week.
• Karsten Swinney, Freedom Christian boys basketball — The program’s all-time leading scorer who eclipsed 2,000 points last month, Swinney’s jumper broke a 90-all tie with Northwood Temple with 16 seconds remaining and then he hit a pair of free throws to seal the 94-90 win and grab a share of the NCISAA Sandhills Conference lead. The junior averaged 28 points for the week, scoring 31, 26, 25 and 30 as the Patriots (14-9) went 3-1. They sit in a three-way tie atop the NCISAA’s Sandhills Conference with Northwood Temple and Berean Baptist at 6-2 in league play.