Vote for the Gaylord Herald Times Player of the Week Award
GAYLORD — The Gaylord Herald Times Player of the Week Award is officially back for the winter sports season.
Each week, four athletes from Gaylord, St. Mary and Johannesburg-Lewiston will be eligible to win, and it will be up to you to decide who takes home the crown each week.
Polls will go live on petoskeynews.com/sports on Sunday afternoons and will close on Mondays at 11:59 p.m.
Coaches, to have your athletes considered, please submit stats by email to djespersen@gannett.com by Sunday mornings.
Aidan Locker, Gaylord boys basketball
It was a busy week in the area for basketball, but a busy one on the road for the Gaylord boys basketball team.
The Blue Devils started the week on the road at Big North opponent Cadillac, then traveled up north to the UP for the St. Ignace BC Pizza Classic at St. Ignace LaSalle High School for games with Marquette and Lake City.
It ended up being a 1-2 week for the Blue Devils, falling to Cadillac and Marquette before upending Lake City in the tournament's consolation game, but a nice week individually for Aidan Locker.
Locker showed up in the back-to-back weekend games up north especially, scoring 12 points in the loss to Marquette while leading the team with 14 points in the win over Lake City, earning All-Tournament honors at the end of the weekend.
Thomas Fox, Johannesburg-Lewiston boys basketball
Much like the football season, the Johannesburg-Lewiston boys basketball season has been about finding the right matchups to be successful.
They may have found their best matchup on Friday.
Specifically, Thomas Fox found a matchup he couldn't stop exploiting, and he boosted the Cardinals to their first victory of the season in a 72-51 win over Forest Area.
Fox put up a staggering 35 points, scoring 18 in the first quarter alone as he nearly single-handedly pushed JoBurg to victory on the night they honored their Snowcoming King and Queen.
Gavin Bebble, St. Mary's boys basketball
The St. Mary's boys were also busy this week, hosting Ellsworth on Monday before battling Inland Lakes on Friday for the top spot in the Ski Valley standings.
Both games turned into victories, and Gavin Bebble had his hands all over both wins, earning him yet another nomination for POTW honors.
Multiple Snowbirds had big nights scoring in the 85-66 victory over Ellsworth, with Bebble's 24 points tied for second most on the night. However, it was the game with Inland Lakes that proved to be the best for Bebble as he poured in a team-high 27 points in the overtime win over the visiting Bulldogs.
Not only did that win keep St. Mary's undefeated in conference and atop the Ski Valley standings, it also increased the Snowbirds' win streak to 12 in a row, with their last loss coming all the way back on December 5 in their opener against Hillman.
Meghan Keen, Gaylord girls basketball
The week senior Meghan Keen had is not a conventional one to be chosen for Player of the Week honors.
However, it's hard to say she doesn't deserve one more chance to win the award.
Gaylord's senior post player effectively had her high school basketball career ended this week after suffering a leg injury that looks to keep her out for the rest of the season. That may overshadow what was shaping up to be a great season for Keen as she had been one of the most important players for head coach Kelli Parker's team every time they took the floor.
Keen's top night came in a loss to Sault Ste. Marie earlier this month as she scored 18 points while also adding 16 points in a win over St. Ignace LaSalle and 15 points in a win over Charlevoix.
Her lone performance this week came in a loss to TC Central where she added seven points, four rebounds and four steals.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Vote for the Gaylord Herald Times Player of the Week Award
