Indian Land basketball guard Carrigan McCloud is The Herald’s latest Player of the Week
Indian Land basketball’s Carrigan McCloud is The Herald’s first winter sports Player of the Week of the 2020-21 season.
The 5-9 sophomore guard had three double-doubles en route to leading the Indian Land girls’ basketball team to a 2-1 record last week: McCloud had 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 46-44 win at Andrew Jackson on Dec. 1; the next day, she had 16 points and 12 boards in a 45-39 loss at Nation Ford; and then on Dec. 4, McCloud finished off her week with 18 points and 14 rebounds in a 49-37 win over Chesterfield.
McCloud — who, yes, is related to Nick McCloud, the former South Pointe football standout and starting cornerback for undefeated Notre Dame — is averaging 15.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per game thus far this season. (Her career high is 33 points, a mark she set against Chester last season.)
There were 31,948 votes cast in this week’s poll. McCloud earned 29.1% of the vote; MJ Collins of Westminster Catawba earned 26% of the vote; and Zy Brown of York earned 17.5% of the vote.
View full results and meet the other nominees this week below.
Meet the nominees
Donaven Brown, Rock Hill basketball: The 5-10 senior guard had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead Rock Hill to a 61-55 win at South Pointe on Dec. 4 — a performance that came just a few days after he scored 13 points and added two assists and two steals in a loss to the same Stallion team on Dec. 1. Brown is averaging 17 points per game for the Bearcats (4-1) this season.
Zy Brown, York basketball: The 6-foot junior guard averaged 22.5 points, six rebounds, 5.5 assists and three steals this week as York split games against Chester and Elevation Prep. Brown had a career-high 30 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 57-49 win over Chester on Dec. 4. Later in the week, Brown also had 15 points, four rebounds, eight assists and four steals in a 66-52 loss to Elevation Prep. York is 1-1 this season.
MJ Collins, Westminster Catawba basketball: The 6-3 junior scored 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals to help lead Westminster Catawba to a 70-68 win over the defending NCISAA 4A state champion, Cannon School, at the Battle at The Rock Showcase in Rock Hill on Dec. 5. Westminster Catawba is a perfect 4-0 this season thus far.
Kory Davis, York Prep basketball: The 6-foot junior averaged 15.3 points per game as York Prep started the season 1-2 this week. Davis had 22 points in a 58-56 loss to Northside Christian in the Battle at the Rock Showcase in Rock Hill on Dec. 3. The next day, Davis had 14 points in a 81-52 win over Wesleyan Christian. Davis finished off his week with 10 points in a 71-46 loss to Ridge View at Cardinal Newman on Dec. 5.
Jada Jones, Rock Hill basketball: The 5-6 junior had 21 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists to lead Rock Hill to a 53-47 overtime win over South Pointe, which was the No. 2 4A team in the state at the time. Jones is averaging 17.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.6 steals and 4.8 assists per game for the Bearcats (6-1) this season.
Victoria Jordan, Catawba Ridge basketball: The 6-foot senior averaged 11.5 points in two games this week to lead Catawba Ridge to wins over Fort Mill and Nation Ford. Jordan had nine points and 13 rebounds in a 48-45 win at Nation Ford on Dec. 1. She came back with 14 points to lead Catawba Ridge to a 34-28 victory over Fort Mill on Dec. 4. Catawba Ridge is 4-1 this season.
Carrigan McCloud, Indian Land basketball.
Harper McKain, Nation Ford basketball: The Nation Ford freshman filled up the stat sheet — averaging 12.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.3 steals and four blocks per game — to lead the Falcons to a 2-1 record this week: McKain had 14 points, five rebounds and five blocks in a 48-45 loss to Catawba Ridge on Dec. 1. The next day, McKain posted 12 points, six rebounds and three steals in a 45-39 win over Indian Land. She then finished off the week with 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks to lead Nation Ford to a 67-34 victory at Lugoff-Elgin. McKain is averaging 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.4 blocks per game for Nation Ford (3-4) this season.
Ca’Darrius Sowell, Andrew Jackson basketball: The 6-2 junior recorded 21 points, six rebounds and four assists — and even took three charges — to lead Andrew Jackson to a 55-39 win over Indian Land on Dec. 1. Sowell is averaging 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Volunteers (3-1) this season.
AJ Thompson, Northwestern basketball: The 5-7 senior had 16 points (including four three pointers) and 10 assists, in an 81-62 loss to Lake Norman Christian — one of the better teams in the Carolinas — at the Battle at the Rock Showcase in Rock Hill on Dec. 5. Thompson also had seven points in a 55-54 loss to Spartanburg on Dec. 1.
How to nominate
Player of the week awards highlight high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes — both the most accomplished and the underrated or underappreciated players. If you want to suggest someone to be included in the ballot in future weeks, send an email to Jay Edwards at edwardswork23@gmail.com. Please include the athlete’s name, school, class and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information.
Full results
If you can’t view the poll below on mobile, click here.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 1:38 PM.
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