The votes have been counted and online readers of the Times Telegram and Observer-Dispatch have selected Sauquoit Valley Red Hawk Lejla Kendic as their athlete of the week for Dec. 15-21.
Kendic, the Utica Academy of Science’s soccer goalkeeper, is playing basketball at Sauquoit Valley this winter after two varsity seasons with the Atoms who are not fielding their own team this season. She follows Central Valley Academy wrestler Vinny Henrickson and Rome Free Academy basketball player Haylee Bostwick as the third winner for the 2025-26 winter athletic season.
Kendic, a senior, helped the Red Hawks win their first four games this season and had a 32-poimt game with seven three-pointers – both career highs – against Sherburne-Earlville to start a 2-1 week that saw her score 55 combined points with nine steals in three games.
Almost 9,000 votes were cast over the weekend on a ballot with 32 nominees, and Kendic received 35.3% (3,105). Central Valley Academy wrestler Gene Edwards finished second with 2,151 votes, followed by Cooperstown basketball player Emma Johnson with 1,559; New York Mills basketball player Jaden Clifford and Sauquoit Valley volleyball player Robert Huntley rounded out the top five.
The full results appear below.
The Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram have a fresh slate of nominees for online readers to consider for Mohawk Valley Athlete of the Week voting for the week of December 15-21.
Rome Free Academy basketball player Haylee Bostwick won the voting for the first week of the winter athletic season, Central Valley Academy wrestler Vinny Henrickson followed for the second, and the new ballot includes athletes from area basketball, bowling, hockey, volleyball and wrestling teams.
Thirty-two Mohawk Valley basketball, hockey and volleyball players, wrestlers and bowlers are nominated on a ballot for the third week of winter scholastic athletic competition, and the poll will remain open until Tuesday, December 30, at noon.
A weekly list of nominees is compiled by the sports department with information provided to the Times Telegram and the Observer-Dispatch by coaches and athletic directors through emails and other contacts.
If a top performer’s name doesn’t appear on the list, encourage their coach or athletic director to email submissions to sports@timestelegram.com or sports@uticaod.com.
Voting closes Tuesday and a winner is scheduled to be announced later that day on the TimesTelegram.com and UticaOD.com websites.
The nominees for the week ending December 21 are:
COLLIN ACETO, Whitesboro hockey: Junior had two goals and one assist against Oswego, helping Whitesboro break away from a second-intermission tie in a 5-2 victory.
RA’ID ADAMS, New York Mills basketball: Junior set career-highs with first 21 points then with 24 in his next game. Adams had 10 rebounds and eight steals in addition to his points in the first game.
KYRIE ANDERSON, Notre Dame basketball: Freshman scored 76 points in three games, including 32 – his second 30-point game and a new varsity career-high – with 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals in the Jugglers’ second win of the season.
AMARI BERKLEY, Utica Academy of Science basketball: Senior 27 points each against Little Falls and Clinton in the Atoms’ first two wins of the season.
CAMERON CLEVELAND, Hamilton basketball: Junior recorded her second double-double in three games and led the unbeaten Emerald Knights with 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots in a win over Sauquoit Valley.
JADEN CLIFFORD, New York Mills basketball: Senior scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a win over Remsen, and topped that with 26 points in another win against OnTech Charter of Syracuse later in the week.
ELI DOXSTADER, Holland Patent wrestling: Unbeaten junior won the 157-pound title at the Blizzard Brawl in Salamanca.
LEXI DOXSTADER, Holland Patent wrestling: Freshman pinned each of her three opponents in the first period and won the 120-pound individual title at the Cicero-North Syracuse Girls Tournament.
BEN DZIUBAN, Mt. Markham wrestling: Junior notched his 100th varsity victory with a 29-second pin at 126 pounds in a dual meet against Herkimer.
GENE EDWARDS, Central Valley Academy wrestling: Undefeated senior swept five matches at Cobleskill-Richmondville’s Battle In the Valley, pinning three opponents in the first period and winning twice by technical fall, and earned his 200th varsity victory.
ROBERT HUNTLEY, Sauquoit Valley volleyball: Senior recorded 33 kills in the Red Hawks’ come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Central Valley Academy. Sauquoit Valley trailed 2-0 and rallied to win its season-opening match on the road.
ADRIANA IZZO, Little Falls basketball: Junior had 20 points and 12 rebounds against Herkimer and scored the 1,000th point of her varsity career in the final minute of the first half.
EMMA JOHNSON, Cooperstown basketball: Eighth-grader hit five three-point shots and scored 18 points in her second game back from an injury and helped the Hawkeyes win for the first time this season.
LEJLA KENDIC, Sauquoit Valley: Senior hit seven three-pointers and scored 32 points against Sherburne-Earlville, helping the Red Hawks extend a season-opening win streak that reached four games two nights later.
JUSTIN LaMUNION, Madison basketball: Senior had 47 combined points and 33 rebounds in Central Counties League wins over McGraw and DeRuyter. He has double-doubles in each of the Blue Devils’ four games to start the season after averaging 19.9 points and 12.7 rebounds last winter.
JP LAZZARO, New Hartford bowling: Junior threw a 781 series with a 299 third game in a match against Whitesboro at Vista Lanes. He previously bowled 300 games in scholastic matches as an eighth-grader and sophomore, and had a 785 series last winter.
ELIJAH LOPEZ, Canajoharie basketball: Senior earned most valuable player honors for helping the Cougars beat Mayfield and Dolgeville in overtime on back-to-back nights to win Canajoharie’s annual Andy Palmer Holiday Classic. The Cougars had started the season 0-4.
SENECA LYONS, Holland Patent wrestling: Senior won the 235-pound individual title at the Cicero-North Syracuse Girls Tournament by pinning each of her three opponents.
JAIDEN MAHER, Remsen volleyball: Senior had a career-high 22 kills in the Rams’ 3-2 win over Stockbridge Valley.
RYAN McGRATH, Adirondack basketball: Junior scored 29 points to match his season’s high against Westmoreland then set a new career-high with 38 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double against West Canada Valley.
BRADEN MEEKS, Rome Free Academy hockey: Junior recorded his second consecutive hat trick with three goals and one assist against the Mohawk Valley Jugglers for the unbeaten Black Knights.
KADEN MURPHY, Dolgeville basketball: Sophomore had 14 points and 15 rebounds in a one-point win over Frankfort-Schuyler that extended the Blue Devils’ season-opening winning streak that later reached six games. He added another double-double – 11-10 – in his next game.
MILES NELEN, Cooperstown basketball: Senior scored 59 points in two wins for the undefeated Hawkeyes, and set varsity career-highs with 41 points and eight three-pointers against Faith Heritage.
SURAFIA NORRIES, Rome Free Academy basketball: Senior 1,000-point scorer netted 67 points as the Black Knights won two of three games in three days, with a high of 29 in the finale against Baldwinsville at Rome’s Miner Realty Invitational.
KATIE RAFFLE, Central Valley Academy basketball: Junior hit five three-point shots and matched a career high from her freshman year with 15 points to lead the Thunder in a two-point win over Holland Patent, Central Valley Academy’s first victory of the season.
KAMRYN RICHARDS, New Hartford basketball: Sophomore hit five three-pointers and scored a career-high 27 points when the Spartans defeated Proctor in Tri-Valley League play.
MIA RUSSO, Central Valley Academy: Junior had 22 kills and served seven aces – both career highs – in a 3-2 win over Camden.
BRAYDEN SMALLS, Central Valley Academy basketball: Junior matched his career high with 33 points against Notre Dame and scored 92 points with 30 rebounds in four wins for the unbeaten Thunder.
ELLA TRINKAUS, Notre Dame basketball: Senior had 91 points, 66 rebounds, 21 assists, 19 steals and 18 blocked shots in four victories for the unbeaten Jugglers, and contributed a 31-point, 20-rebound game to Notre Dame’s sweep through its division of the KSA Orlando Pre-Holiday Classic in Florida.
ERIN TRINKAUS, Notre Dame basketball: Senior scored a career-high 28 points with five three-pointers, 12 rebounds and seven steals in a TVL win over Central Valley Academy, and scored 30 points with a pair of doubles on the Jugglers trip to Florida later in the week.
TRENT TRUE, Holland Patent wrestling: Unbeaten senior won the 190-pound title at the Blizzard Brawl in Salamanca.
NATE VERRI, Little Falls wrestling: Sophomore 150-pounder won each of his four contested matches, earning the 100th victory of his varsity career, as the Mounties went 5-0 to win the team title at the Montgomery County Duals in Amsterdam.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Readers pick Sauquoit Valley basketball player as week’s top performer
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
