Help us select our high school Athletes of the Week

Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys and girls Athlete of the Week poll.

For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.

This week, we consider performances from Dec. 12-17.

Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting. Votes by email are not counted.

Winners are announced each Friday. Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com. We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.

Here are the nominees:

GIRLS

Ashanti Dias, Archbishop Riordan basketball: Dias continued her torrid start to the season by scoring 16 against University and 21 against Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep. The junior scored in double-figures in seven of her first eight games.

Melissa Esquivel, Hayward soccer: In a match in which the Farmers collected 14 goals, Esquivel was the most prolific scorer in Hayward’s blowout win over San Lorenzo. Esquivel netted five goals to lead the team in that statistic.

Deanna Luna, James Lick soccer: The Comets breezed past Oak Grove 6-2 thanks to a four-goal, one-assist night from Luna. Luna made the most of her chances, as she had only six attempted shots on goal the entire match.

Julysil Paycoan, Del Mar basketball: The point guard played a well-rounded game against Leigh on Tuesday, scoring 13 points while giving out five assists. That kind of game has not been rare for Paycoan, who is averaging more than five assists according to stats on MaxPreps.

NyEla Pete, College Park basketball: Pete put up back-to-back double-doubles last week. She had 13 points and 11 rebounds in a 60-50 win over Irvington, and then went for 10 points and 14 boards in the 60-52 win over Dougherty Valley. Pete is also a standout in water polo.

Roya Rezaee, Menlo School soccer: Rezaee’s goal with 17 minutes left in the match broke a scoreless deadlock with Lincoln and won her Knights the Firebird Classic. Menlo School also had wins over Palo Alto, Gunn and Homestead on its way to a trophy.

Christabel Rodas, De Anza soccer: Rodas found the back of the net three times in a 9-0 win over Kennedy, and she assisted on three other goals. While Rodas did not repeat the hat trick in an 8-1 win over Bethel, she did score one goal while contributing four assists.

Mari Somvichian, Oakland Tech basketball: Oakland Tech’s senior guard shot an efficient 4 for 5 from the field to get 12 points in a blowout win over St. Mary’s-Berkeley. The captain had two three-pointers as well as a couple of steals.

Asha Walker, American basketball: Walker was a combined 5 of 8 from 3-point land in games against Newark Memorial and California. That torrid shooting from deep helped her score 19 and then 13 points. Walker also grabbed 10 rebounds to give her a double-double against California.

Samantha Wallace, Piedmont Hills soccer: The Piedmont Hills captain was unstoppable in a 5-0 win over Milpitas. She scored twice and was an assister on two other Pirates goals in the win.

BOYS

Taj Gil, James Logan soccer: The senior had three goals and three assists as the Colts breezed past Irvington 10-0 in Mission Valley Athletic League play. He also had a goal and an assist in a 6-0 win over Mission San Jose as James Logan improved to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in league play.

Jonah Guardino, Archbishop Mitty soccer: Facing the Bay Area News Group’s top-ranked team on the road, the sophomore came off the bench and scored in the 84th minute on a counterattack to lift the 13th-ranked Monarchs to a 1-0 victory over De La Salle.

Kellen Hampton, Moreau Catholic basketball: The 6-foot-7 sophomore scored 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting and had 13 rebounds as Moreau cruised past James Logan 89-68 in Mission Valley Athletic League play. Hampton is averaging 21.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. The Mariners improved to 4-2, 2-0.

Seiichi Naddy, Concord wrestling: Finished first in the 160-pound classification of the 14th Bill Martell Invitational at Northgate, edging Max Bantiuc of Las Lomas 6-5 in the final.

Adam Nakai, Santa Teresa basketball: The junior guard filled up the stat sheet in an 86-79 victory over Alisal, finishing with 29 points on 13-of-20 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Santa Teresa ended the week 5-4 on the season. Nakai is averaging 18.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Kevin Romo, Richmond soccer: Helped the Oilers improve to 2-0 in Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division play, scoring two goals in the second half as Richmond beat St. Mary’s-Berkeley 2-0. The Oilers began this week with a 3-1 overall record.

Nicholas Ruiz, Benicia soccer: In a 3-2 nonleague victory over Armijo, the senior scored two goals. He leads his team in scoring with five goals and four assists. Benicia began this week with a 5-2 record.

Jon Taylor, The King’s Academy basketball: The senior guard scored 35 points as the Knights rolled past Independence 79-43 in the first round of the Fremont-Sunnyvale tournament. In the final, he led the way with 22 points as TKA defeated Fremont 71-55 to improve to 10-0.

Mehki Thomas, Dublin basketball: He was named the MVP of the Don Nelson Classic at Dublin after he finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals to lead the Gaels past previously undefeated Placer 63-47 in the championship game. Dublin improved to 8-3.

Tariq Weiser, Bellarmine basketball: Scored 25 points to lead the Bells to a 78-73 victory over Sacred Heart Prep at the DJ Frandsen tournament on Saturday at Bellarmine. The win improved the Bells’ record to 3-2.