San Marcos swept the Athletes of the Week honors at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
Ariel Plourde of the Royals’ girls basketball team and Justin Hess of the boys soccer team were the award recipients for their stellar performances in rivalry games against Santa Barbara High.
Hess, a junior center back, led a superb defensive effort in a 0-0 draw and a 1-0 victory over Santa Barbara. The results allowed the Royals to overtake the Dons in the standings and win their second straight Channel League championship.
Hess shut down Santa Barbara’s leading goal scorer in both games.
Plourde played a huge part in San Marcos’ first victory over Santa Barbara since 2008. She scored 21 points and hit a game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.
She buried two more threes in the extra period as the Royals won 56-52
Plourde scored nine points in a second victory against the Dons, which enabled the Royals to finish in second place in league with an 8-2 record.
There were three honorable mention choices for the female athlete award: Ava Stryker (San Marcos water polo), Athena Bow-Graham (Santa Barbara soccer) and Lily Mires (Dos Pueblos basketball).
The other male candidates were Fin Silver (Dos Pueblos soccer) and Babacar Pouye (Cate basketball).
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.