The Mount Vernon News sports department’s 21st ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations continue the established procedure of spotlighting student-athletes’ skills and performances on the fields and courts of action.
Based on performances, we ask ADs, coaches and the community to nominate one boy and one girl from their athletic programs to compete against other schools’ nominations. We ask for a recap of their worthy performances and a picture. Please send your nominations to me, Mike Blake, MVN Sports Editor, at mike.blake@mountvernonnews.com. Make sure YOUR school is represented.
This week, a female basketball leader calmly won an OT game from the foul stripe, and a male hoops star made 3-pointers seem like lay-ups.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Fredericktown freshman shooting guard-point guard Cally Carpenter is poised beyond her years, and her head coach, Tim Maceyko, recognizes that. “I’m starting to call her ‘Clutch,’” he said. Carpenter lived up to that nickname by coolly sinking nine of 10 free throw attempts in overtime to secure a 60-46 OT win for the Freddies over Centerburg on Jan. 28.
Carpenter scored a team-high 23 points and along with teammate Audrey Bouton, who scored 20, dominated the overtime period for the Freddies to guarantee the win. Carpenter was on all game with a 3-pointer in the first quarter, a three and a free throw in the second, two deuces and a three in the third, then after being kept off the score sheet in the fourth, she calmly swished nine of 10 from the charity stripe to put Centerburg in the rearview mirror.
“Cally Carpenter -- Freshman. She is, and is going to continue to be a good one for us," Coach Maceyko said. "Cally won the game at the line, and in a strong all-around game, she had 23 points, four rebounds, four steals, three assists, three 3-point shots and was 10-for-12 from the free throw line."
MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Danville senior Darren Mickley scored 26 points on Jan. 29 in a 62-46 win over Madison-Christian in which no one else on the winning team scored more than eight. He was a precise scoring machine from beyond the arc as he hit seven-of-10 attempts from 3-point range. On target all night, Mickley hit a three in the first quarter, three threes and 12 points in the second, two threes in the third and a 3-pointer and three free throws in the fourth.
A force in all assets of the game, Mickley is currently 10th among KMAC players in assists per game and eighth in blocks.
“Yes I would like to nominate Darren for Athlete of the Week," Danville head coach Matt Moore said. "Darren was 7-for-10 from beyond the arc and 4-for-6 from the free throw line Saturday vs. Madison-Christian. Darren is a senior leader on the team and is a four-year letter man.”
Additionally, Mickley was recently inducted into his local chapter of the National Honor Society.
Congratulations on a great week by our ATHLETES of the WEEK, Cally Carpenter and Darren Mickley, and congratulations to all local athletes for solid efforts.
To all local schools: Send us your athlete nominations for next week and show them and the community how much they mean to their schools.
