Alana Hankerson of Rock Hill girls’ basketball is The Herald’s Athlete of the Week

Alana Hankerson of the Rock Hill girls’ basketball team is The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.

The 5-foot-7 freshman nearly doubled her season average with 12 points to go with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to help Rock Hill to a 64-14 victory at Blythewood on Feb. 4. The Bearcats (20-3), too, won a Region 4-5A championship after their win over Ridge View on Tuesday.

There were 25,191 votes cast in this week’s poll. Hankerson notched 67% of the vote; Corey Dye of Northwestern wrestling earned 17% of the vote; Aaden Fair of the Great Falls boys’ basketball team earned 8% of the vote.

Meet the finalists below.

This week’s finalists

Kory Davis, York Prep boys’ basketball. The 6-foot-1 senior averaged 25 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and three steals per game as York Prep beat Central Pageland and Cheraw to remain a perfect 19-0 this season. His most impressive game? Davis had 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals to lead the Patriots to an 87-38 win over Cheraw on Feb. 1. York Prep has clinched the Region 4-2A title and a No. 1 spot in the South Carolina playoffs, which begin later this month.

Andrew Duffell-Hoffman, Lancaster wrestling. The Bruin senior went 2-0 on the mat this week as he won the 113-pound title at the Region 3-4A championships at York this week.

Corey Dye, Northwestern wrestling. The Trojan sophomore went 2-0 at 120 pounds this week as Northwestern beat Dorman and Gaffney in the 5A dual state playoffs on Feb. 5. Dye is 25-7 overall for Northwestern (20-1) this season.

Aaden Fair, Great Falls boys’ basketball. The 6-foot-1 sophomore scored 18 points and added five rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 77-41 win over McBee on Feb. 1. Fair also had 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and took one charge to lead Great Falls to a 59-38 victory over Fairfield Central on Feb. 4. Fair is averaging 12.6 points, four rebounds, and two assists per game in region play for a Great Falls team (10-8) that has won seven straight games.

Chase Gibson, Rock Hill boys’ basketball. The 5-foot-7 senior scored 20 points and notched three assists and two steals in a 67-55 win at Blythewood on Feb. 4. Rock Hill is 10-10 this season.

Alana Hankerson, Rock Hill girls’ basketball.

Drew Hardin, Indian Land boys’ basketball. The 6-foot-1 senior had a season-high 36 points to go with five rebounds, seven assists and five steals in an 84-66 win at York on Jan. 31. He also had 17 points, two assists and two steals in a 51-50 victory over Fairfield Central on Feb. 2. Hardin is averaging 21 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals per game for Indian Land (6-12) this season.

Victoria Morris, South Pointe girls’ basketball. The 5-foot-9 sophomore had a double-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and seven steals in a 51-34 win over Lancaster on Feb. 1. She also had six points, 10 rebounds and two steals in a 48-27 victory at Indian Land on Feb. 4. Morris is averaging 11.4 points and 8.8 rebounds for South Pointe (14-7) this season.

Joel Strait, York boys’ basketball. The 5-foot-11 senior had quite the string of performances this past week: He had 21 points and nine rebounds in an 84-66 loss to Indian Land on Jan. 31. The next night, he had 17 points, four rebounds and two assists in an 83-36 loss at Catawba Ridge. Strait finished off the week with 22 points and four assists in a 66-59 loss to Lancaster on Feb. 3. Strait is averaging 13.5 points, four rebounds, three assists and 1.7 steals per game for York (3-15) this season.

Skyla Tuthill, Catawba Ridge girls’ basketball. The 5-foot-10 freshman averaged 29 points per game as Catawba Ridge beat Lancaster and York this week. Tuthill scored 23 points in a 64-13 win over York on Feb. 1. She also scored 35 points to lead the Copperheads to a 49-44 victory over Lancaster on Feb. 4.

Tamia Watkins, Andrew Jackson girls’ basketball. The 6-foot-1 freshman scored 19 points and added 11 rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocks in a 61-26 win over North Central on Feb. 3. The next night, she had 17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in a 51-36 victory at Buford. Andrew Jackson also won 44-23 at Chesterfield on Feb. 1. Watkins is averaging 18 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocks per game for an Andrew Jackson team (16-3) that has won 12 straight games.

Vote here and see full results

How to nominate

Athlete of the Week awards highlight high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes — both the accomplished and the underrated/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. The Herald reserves the right to remove a name from the poll at its discretion.

This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 3:29 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.