Ellie Ruddy of Fort Mill girls’ lacrosse is The Herald’s latest Player of the Week
Ellie Ruddy of the Fort Mill girls’ lacrosse team has been voted The Herald’s latest Player of the Week.
The Yellow Jackets’ junior goalkeeper had 15 saves on 26 shots to lead Fort Mill to a 14-11 win over Charlotte Country Day on Feb. 24. Ruddy also had one ground ball and one interception in the season-opening victory.
There were exactly 19,000 votes case in this week’s poll. Ruddy won with 39% of the vote. She was closely followed by Westminster Catawba’s AJ Hamrick, who earned 37.4% of the vote.
View all the finalists and full results here.
The information published below includes statistics through Feb. 27. Voting opened on Monday, March 1.
Meet the finalists
Elliot Clark, Catawba Ridge lacrosse: The junior had six goals — two hat tricks — in two games as Catawba Ridge split with River Bluff and TL Hanna this week. Clark had three goals in a 14-6 loss at River Bluff on Feb. 25. He also had three goals in a 9-8 win at TL Hanna on Feb. 27. Catawba Ridge is 1-1 this season.
Kory Davis, York Prep basketball: Davis fought valiantly, but his season ended in the quarterfinals of the 2A state playoffs this week: The 6-foot junior guard had 18 points, four rebounds and four assists in a 76-51 second round win on Feb. 22. He followed that up with 30 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in a 66-64 loss to Gray Collegiate at Allen University in the quarterfinals. York Prep finished the season at 19-5.
AJ Hamrick, Westminster Catawba basketball: The 6-foot-8 senior forward had 10 points and 16 rebounds in a 71-52 win at Northside Christian in the NCISAA 2A state quarterfinals on Feb. 22. Two days later, he notched 18 points and 12 rebounds in a 71-56 victory at Northwood Temple in the NCISAA 2A state semifinals. Westminster Catawba finished 16-3 this season.
Laila Hankerson, Rock Hill basketball: The 5-foot-6 junior had 24 points, including five three-pointers, to go with six steals, four rebounds and four assists to lead Rock Hill to a 67-54 win over Gaffney in the 5A state quarterfinals on Feb. 25. Hankerson also had six points in a second round playoff win over Woodmont on Feb. 22. Rock Hill is 20-2 this season.
Kaleem Heard, Northwestern wrestling: The Trojans’ senior won the 5A Upper State title at 132 pounds at Nation Ford on Feb. 27. Heard was also selected to the 2021 North/South All-Star Select team on Feb. 25. Heard won the Region 4-5A title earlier this season.
Ty Keaton, Nation Ford lacrosse: The Falcons’ senior had six goals as Nation Ford split games with Myers Park (Charlotte) and Providence Day (Charlotte) this week. Keaton scored one goal in a 15-4 loss to Providence Day on Feb. 25. Keaton followed that with five goals in a 9-6 win over Myers Park on Feb. 27. Nation Ford is 1-1 this season.
Quan Peterson, South Pointe basketball: The 6-foot-1 junior had 18 points, including the game-winning free throws in overtime to lead South Pointe to a 60-58 win over AC Flora in the 4A state quarterfinals on Feb. 25. Peterson also had six rebounds and three assists in the victory. Peterson is averaging 17 points, six assists and four rebounds per game for South Pointe this season.
Ellie Ruddy, Fort Mill lacrosse.
Asa Walton, Clover wrestling: The Blue Eagles’ senior won the South Carolina 5A Upper State title at 170 pounds at Nation Ford on Feb. 27. Walton improved to 29-1 this season.
La’Destiny Worthy, Clover basketball: The 6-foot senior forward had 10 points, 21 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in a 57-44 win over Dorman in the second round of the 5A state playoffs on Feb. 22. Worthy also had five points, four rebounds and two steals — and she also held co-region player of the year, Ridge View’s Laila Acox, to zero points in a 42-40, 5A state quarterfinal win on Feb. 25. Worthy is averaging 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.1 steals per contest for a Clover team that has won 14 straight games.
Vote here and view full results
If you can’t view the poll on your mobile device, click here to refresh the page.
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.
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 3:39 PM.
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