Time for another CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Player of the Week fan poll.
Nominees have been selected and the fan poll created for Player of the Week, which is title sponsored by Complete Restoration & Cleaning Services, Inc.
We need your votes.
Six winter sports athletes from the conference who stood out in competitions Feb. 26-March 1, 2024, have been nominated by CatchMark SportsNet. Student-athletes who have already won Player of the Week honors this season are not eligible to be in the fan poll.
Time for you to vote, over and over. The poll can be found at the bottom of this story after brief capsules on the nominees. You may vote once per hour. The poll closes at noon Friday, March 8.
Athletes are listed alphabetically:
GAVIN CRANER, Whitehall wrestling
In Saturday’s MHSAA Division 3 individual state finals at Ford Field, the 175-pound junior notched a 10-2 major decision over Clinton’s Bryce Randolph for his first state championship. Craner closed the season with a 54-0 record, making it four straight years that the Vikings have boasted an undefeated state champion. He recorded his 150th career win Friday and was dominant all weekend.
TAYLOR DEKUIPER, Fremont basketball
The 5-foot-8 freshman shooting guard has played some of her best basketball down the stretch. In last Tuesday’s 42-38 home win over Ludington, which clinched the Packers’ first outright girls basketball league title since 1978, DeKuiper finished with seven points in 10 rebounds. In Fremont’s 44-31 road win over Fruitport in the regular-season finale, she delivered 11 points, 15 rebounds, and five steals.
LAMARKIS GRAHAM, North Muskegon basketball
North Muskegon’s unbeaten basketball team has a number of players who can step up at any given time, but it was Graham who led the way in Friday’s 54-39 victory over White Cloud in a Division 3 district title game at Hesperia. The 6-foot-3, 160-pound senior wing scored a game-high 20 points to go witrh five rebounds, and four steals. In last Wednesday’s 65-29 district semifinal win over Shelby, Graham had 12 points and three assists.
ADDI HOVEY, Hart basketball
The 5-foot-11 junior has achieved a lot in her top two sports, basketball and track and field. Hovey marked off a big milestone in the former last week. She reached the 1,000-point career milestone in Hart’s 54-47 nonleague victory at Wyoming Potter’s House Christian. Hovey finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. She is the third player in Pirates girls basketball history to achieve the milestone.
EMMA PENDELL, Montague wrestling
The senior for the Lady Mat Cats capped her historic career with another all-state finish in the MHSAA individual state finals last weekend at Ford Field. Pendell placed seventh in the 145-pound weight class to become a four-time all-stater, the first in Montague wrestling history. Two years ago, she captured the title at 140 pounds to become Montague’s first state champion since Bill Priese in 1989. Pendell placed fifth at 140 in the MHSAA state finals last year.
TEE WARD, Fremont wrestling
In Saturday’s MHSAA Division 2 individual state finals at Ford Field, the 138-pound senior completed his 4-3-2-1 podium countdown by capping his career with a state championship. Ward decisioned previously unbeaten Landon Thomas of St. Joseph, 3-1, and finished his season with a 53-1 record. He placed fourth in the state as a freshman, third as a sophomore, and second as a junior en route to a 192-12 career record.
