Athlete of the week: Redwood's Cole Gilcrest

Redwood High School boys basketball player Cole Gilcrest was voted by readers as the Visalia Times-Delta Tulare County prep athlete of the week.

In an online poll that closed on Jan. 6, Gilcrest received 4,346 votes, or a 37% majority, of the 11,748 responses. He won by just 40 votes.

Gilcrest registered a team-high 13 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks in the 71st annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational championship game. He was an all-tournament team honoree.

Editor’s note: Anyone can nominate an athlete of the week for every sport. Nominate next week’s ballot through email. Readers can email nominations to sports reporter Vongni Yang at vyang2@visaliatimesdelta.com. Please include a player’s statistics and a photo if possible.

Original story: Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register readers can now vote for their favorite high school athletes at the newspaper's website, visaliatimesdelta.com. The poll closes on Friday.

Please do not email your votes.

Here are the choices for the week of Jan. 3-6:

• Ariel Bermudez, girls basketball, Monache: Bermudez was named to the all-tournament team at the 13th annual Tulare Mid-Winter Showcase.

• Cole Gilcrest, boys basketball, Redwood: Gilcrest registered a team-high 13 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks in the 71st annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational championship game. He was an all-tournament team honoree.

• Santana Guijarro, boys basketball, El Diamante: Guijarro was named to the all-tournament squad at the 71st annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invite.

• Melanie Navarro, girls basketball, Lindsay: Navarro was an all-tournament team pick at the 13th annual Tulare Mid-Winter Showcase.

• Ally Lane, girls basketball, Central Valley Christian: Lane was an all-tournament team selection at the 13th annual Tulare Mid-Winter Showcase.

• Erik Odsather, boys basketball, Porterville: Odsather was the most valuable player at the 71s annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational. He helped the Panthers capture the tournament championship.

• Hannah Thompson, girls basketball, Mission Oak: Thompson was named to the all-tournament team at the 13th annual Tulare Mid-Winter Showcase.

• Javier Torres, boys basketball, Dinuba: Torres helped the Emperors win the consolation championship at the 71st annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invite. He was also an all-tournament pick.

Nominations are based on information available to the Times-Delta.

All high school varsity players from Tulare County are eligible to be on the ballot. Nominations must be received for consideration by Monday morning following that week's games.

Anyone can nominate an athlete of the week for every sport. Nominate next week’s ballot through email. Readers can email nominations to sports reporter Vongni Yang at vyang2@visaliatimesdelta.com. Please include a player’s statistics and a photo if possible.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Athlete of the week: Redwood's Cole Gilcrest