A championship performance made Delaware Academy’s freshman phenom Danielle Ennist the winner of The Daily Star’s Athlete of the Week Award for the week ending March 7.
Ennist, a center/forward, led the Bulldogs to their second straight Section IV Class C title in girls basketball with a game high 20 points in Delaware Academy’s 54-40 win over Union Springs in the championship game Saturday, March 7, in Dryden.
Ennist also came up big in the Bulldogs win in the Central Region championship game Saturday, March 14, in Syracuse. She scored 21 points in the win against Section III champion West Canada Valley.
The win takes Ennist out of the running for the AOW Award this week, but Delaware Academy fans can vote for another Bulldog standout this week.
This week’s award is sponsored by Five Star Subaru.
Voting opens at midnight Saturday, March 21 and is open until noon Thursday, March 26. Go to www.thedailystar.com/athleteoftheweek/ to vote.
The Athlete of the Week nominations for the week of March 8-14, are:
Tyler Abts, Delaware Academy girls basketball: Abts, a junior guard, is the Bulldogs vocal leader on and off the court. She often defends the best player on the opposing team, as she did in her team’s win over West Canada Valley in the regional game. Abts guarded Brooke Reddington, and although Reddington ended up with 28 points, eight came in the final minute with Abts on the bench, and half came after the outcome of the game was decided. Abts, who is about half a foot shorter than Reddington, also scored 11 points in the win.
Jackson Crisman, Cooperstown boys basketball: The balanced scoring from the Hawkeyes continued to pay off in the section title game in Syracuse on March 8. Crisman, a senior center, continued to do his share inside, with 18 points and 20 rebounds in Cooperstown’s 74-51 win over Cato-Meridian. According to syracuse.com records, Crisman has scored 448 points this season and has gotten 299 rebounds.
Miles Nelen, Cooperstown boys basketball: Cooperstown’s leading scorer also had a big game in the section title win, with 19 points and five assists. A senior guard, Nelen has 1,386 points in the varsity career, according to syracuse.com, including 664 points this season. He also has 104 assists this season. Nelen not only leads the Hawkeyes in points, but is the leading scorer in the region in boys basketball, with 26.5 points per game.
This week’s The Daily Star Athlete of the Week Award winner will be announced online Friday, March 27, and in print Saturday, March 28.