Help us choose our high school Athletes of the Week

Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) 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 Jan. 6-11.

Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Vote as many times as you’d like until then at mercurynews.com and eastbaytimes.com without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.

Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.

Winners are announced each Friday online and in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.

Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.

On to the nominees:

We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday. We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.

On to the nominees:

GIRLS

Cleo Afsar, Piedmont basketball: Afsar scored 21 points to lead all scorers as Piedmont beat San Leandro 72-25.

Mariah Betancourt, Evergreen Valley soccer: The senior striker scored three goals to lead Evergreen over Westmont 6-4 in a nonleague matchup.

Rylan Cashman, Fremont-Sunnyvale soccer: The senior scored six goals in two matches, three each against Wilcox and Milpitas. She added two assists in Fremont’s win over Wilcox.

Ella Gunderson, San Ramon Valley basketball: Gunderson paced all scorers with 23 points and added five rebounds and five assists as SRV knocked off Alameda 79-47 to improve to 11-2.

Ariana Hallstrom, Acalanes basketball: Hallstrom, a senior, led all scorers with 23 points as Acalanes took down Berean Christian.

Zoey Lemoge, Half Moon Bay basketball: Junior center Lemoge led HMB with 22 points as the Cougars defeated Carlmont 71-42 to improve to 10-2 and 2-0 in league play.

Ravyn Martin, San Leandro basketball: Martin scored 18 points and added 15 rebounds, three steals and three blocks as San Leandro beat Hayward 40-28.

Sophia Sanchez, St. Ignatius basketball: Sanchez, a junior, scored 21 points to lead SI over Valley Christian 46-42 in a tight WCAL matchup in the City.

Maddison Sardelich, Northgate basketball: Sardelich dominated the boards for Northgate, pulling down 19 rebounds and adding seven points as the Broncos beat Benicia 49-34.

Shirinia Shi, American basketball: Shi scored 35 points to lead American to a 68-55 win over Mission San Jose as the Eagles improved to 12-2 and 3-1 in MVAL play.

BOYS

Zidane Auzarang, San Mateo basketball: Auzarang, a senior, scored 21 points in San Mateo’s 45-35 win over El Camino. San Mateo (9-4, 2-0) plays host to South San Francisco on Wednesday.

Gavin Dodge, Acalanes basketball: Dodge scored 13 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Acalanes’ 58-55 win over Ygnacio Valley. Acalanes began this week 11-4, 2-0.

Kai Hwang, Sequoia soccer: Hwang, a senior, scored two goals in Sequoia’s 5-0 win over Jefferson. Sequoia (3-4-1) will be at home to face Menlo-Atherton on Wednesday.

Karan Kolappa, King’s Academy basketball: The senior scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds in TKA’s 69-45 win over Half Moon Bay. TKA (10-3) opens league play against Pinewood on Tuesday.

Micah Nyamuzuwe, Head-Royce basketball: Nyamuzuwe scored 22 points and grabbed five boards in Head-Royce’s 84-60 win over league rival Athenian. Head-Royce (8-8, 2-1) will play host to St. Joseph Notre Dame on Tuesday.

Alessandro Martz, Livermore basketball: The senior scored eight points, grabbed eight rebounds and was a standout on defense for Livermore, which fell to Dublin 69-57. Livermore (13-4, 0-1) travels to Amador Valley on Tuesday.

Damien Miles, Granada basketball: Miles scored 31 points to lead Granada to a 73-57 win over Foothill. Granada (7-10, 1-0) will be at home to play Monte Vista on Tuesday.

Seth Reese, Westmont basketball: The senior hit five 3-pointers and totaled 20 points to lead Westmont to a 67-57 win over Pioneer. Westmont is 12-3, 3-0 and travels to Willow Glen on Wednesday.

Michael Scavotto, St. Francis soccer: Scavotto scored all three of St. Francis’ goals in the Lancers’ 3-2 win over Serra. St. Francis began this week 2-5, 1-1.

Isaac Sisay, Milpitas basketball: The senior had a team-high 16 points in Milpitas’ 56-49 win over Mountain View. Milpitas is 13-2, 3-0 and will travel to Palo Alto on Wednesday.

Alfredo Soreque, James Lick soccer: Soreque scored Lick’s lone goal to lead the Comets to a 1-0 win over Prospect. James Lick ended last week 3-3.

Jalen Stokes, Dougherty Valley basketball: Stokes scored a school-record 47 points in Dougherty Valley’s 81-76 loss to San Ramon Valley. Dougherty Valley (11-6, 0-1) will play host to Foothill on Tuesday.