Independence sophomore Megan Kuczmarski and West Geauga junior Kyle Gallagher have been named Ward’s Lawn Care & Landscape Co. Players of the Week for the week ending Dec. 20.
Kuczmarski has made a major contribution to the Blue Devils’ four-game win streak that has boosted the team’s record to 6-4 after the first 10 games.
In two wins against West Geauga and Berkshire, Kuczmarski averaged 13 points per game. She scored a team-high 14 points in a 46-44 win over West Geauga on Dec. 14 and came back to lead the team with 12 points in a 39-31 win at Berkshire.
Kuczmarski now is second on the team with 12.0 points per game.
“That’s a result of hard work,” said Independence coach Mike Marcinko. “She played AAU basketball for the first time last spring and never missed a workout. She’s one of those where you can point to all the work that led up to the season. The time that you make yourself individually better is the off-season and Megan took full advantage of the off months and made herself better.”
Gallagher went 8-1 at the Bowling Green Duals despite giving up nearly 25 pounds to wrestle at 220 for the Wolverines.
His only loss was a narrow 14-11 decision.
As a sophomore, Gallagher finished 12-16.
“Kyle weighs 193 pounds and he spent the better part of the weekend wrestling at 220, giving up up to 25 pounds to some kids,” said West Geauga coach Joe Marino. “Kyle had a record of 12-16 for all of last season on the varsity, so to earn eight victories in one weekend speaks volumes for how impressive the improvement has been.”
COACHES, NOMINATE YOUR PLAYERS
Coaches, click HERE to nominate your athletes for Ward’s Lawn Care & Landscape Co. Players of the Week. Athletes from all Northeast Ohio schools are eligible for the award and nominations are due by 10:00 p.m. every Tuesday.