Time to vote for Rockford-area athlete of the week for Dec. 8-13

The winter sports season is firing, and so are the stars from the Rockford area. So it’s time for you to vote for the Rockford Register Star high school Athlete of the Week poll, sponsored by Gustafson’s Furniture & Mattress, for the week of Dec. 8-13.

Go to our poll and vote now. We ask that you vote only once per day, to keep the polls fair.

To nominate an athlete for our AOTW poll, send an email to jtaft@rrstar.com by 10 a.m. Monday mornings, with information and stats on why you think they deserve to be nominated.

Almost every week for the rest of the school year, we will compile a list of athletes from the Rockford area who had standout weeks and let you, the reader, vote on who you think deserves the AOTW award. Every week you will be able to find the nominees as well as the poll at rrstar.com.

The AOTW poll will stay open until noon on Friday.

This week’s nominees are:

Dominic Alvarado, Belvidere basketball

Alvarado buried five 3-pointers and scored 21 points to help Belvidere hang on for a 72-71 win over Boylan in boys basketball last Wednesday. Alvarado and the Bucs were off to a 7-2 start after Monday’s win over Stillman Valley.

Ainsley Hughes, Hononegah basketball

While Hughes scored 16 points in Hononegah’s loss to Freeport on Friday, she drained a pair of 3-pointers and tallied 17 points in a 60-37 win over Guilford earlier last week.

Paityn London, Freeport basketball

London has been on a tear to start the season, and she continued the past week, helping Freeport to a 9-1 record headed into this week. She scored 24 points and grabbed eight steals and eight rebounds during Freeport’s 64-50 win over Hononegah in a key NIC-10 showdown on Friday, and she sparked the Pretzels in an 85-64 win over Jefferson last Wednesday with 30 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Jeremiah Luke, Lena-Winslow wrestling

Luke earned a quick first-period pin as well as a technical fall to stay undefeated as Lena-Winslow battled on the wrestling mat over the weekend. Luke also had an 18-second pin last Tuesday that capped off Le-Win’s comeback from down 35-0 to Oregon to beating the Hawks 37-35.

Isaiah Perez, Oregon wrestling

Perez outdueled Lena-Winslow’s Brandon White 8-5 as two of the state’s top 126 pounders went at it last Tuesday.

Sienna Peterson, Eastland basketball

Peterson led Eastland with 23 points and 10 steals in a win over Earlville on Saturday, and she had 20 points in a win over Milledgeville earlier the same day. She also scored 16 points in a game last Tuesday.

Aniyah Sarver, Oregon basketball

Sarver scored a season-high 25 points to spark Oregon past Orangeville 50-42 at the Pearl City Tournament on Saturday.

Hailee Vogt, Forreston basketball

Vogt helped Forreston to the 48-21 win over West Carroll on Saturday by dropping in 25 points and adding eight rebounds and four steals. She also had 14 points and 12 rebounds in an 11-point win on Wednesday. Forreston moved back up to .500 (5-5) headed into the week.

Emma Withers, Stillman Valley basketball

Withers sparked the Cardinals to the 77-44 win over Rochelle last week with 33 points, eight rebounds and seven steals.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.