Girls basketball: Transfer student claims Varsity 845 player of the week honors
Audrey Elisondo of James I. O'Neill was voted the Varsity 845 girls basketball player of the week from Jan. 3-9.
Out of eight nominees, Elisondo finished with 9,547 online votes. Runner-up Jena Russo of New Paltz was second with 6,522. Zoe Mesuch of Wallkill garnered 3,083 and Riley Schmidt of Valley Central had 2,266. A total of 25,248 votes were cast.
Elisondo, a junior power forward, is a welcome addition to the Raiders – her father transferred in April from military service in Germany to West Point. Elisondo played basketball while in Europe and joined the O’Neill program as a seasoned player.
“She may be a slight bit undersized (for a center, at 5-foot-9),’’ said O’Neill second-year coach Rob McIvor, “but she plays very fundamental basketball as far as boxing out and getting rebounds (averaging 12.5 per game). She has a slew of post moves on offense that she can go to. She also has a great shot from anywhere on the court. Her defense has anchored us in many ways, holding down the middle of our defense.’’
The Raiders have not lost since their season opener to Saugerties. The win streak extended to nine with a clutch 50-46 overtime victory over Chester on Saturday thanks in large part to a 20-point scoring effort by Elisondo – she also had nine points in a 49-42 victory over Sullivan West earlier in the week.
Allison Bono of Chester won the first vote conducted from Dec. 6-12. Ashley MacCalla of Middletown won for Dec. 13-19. Jah-esa Stokes of Pine Bush won for Dec. 20-Jan. 2.
The Varsity 845 girls basketball poll will return on Monday, Jan. 17, with online voting until Wednesday afternoon.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Varsity 845 girls basketball player of week O'Neill Audrey Elisondo
