It’s time to vote for The State’s high school girls and boys basketball Players of the Week from Midlands-area high schools and games played from Dec. 22 to Jan. 3 . Voting ends this Friday at noon.
The winner will be announced on Lou Bezjak’s X/Twitter page on Friday afternoon.
The nominees are listed below. Please note that these polls are not scientific and are meant to be just for fun.
To nominate players, coaches should e-mail lbezjak@thestate.com by 9 a.m. on Tuesdays .
Congrats to all the nominees. Cast your vote below the bios:
Boys Player of Week nominees
Justus Bell , Dutch Fork : Senior made all-tournament team in the Roundball Classic and Panther Classic, averaging 20 points, 8 rebounds in six games.
Christian Brown , Irmo: Junior averaged 17 points and was the MVP of the Big Red Box Holiday Invitational in helping the Yellow Jackets to the tournament title.
RJ Davis, Ridge View : Sophomore averaged 18.3 points over three games and was named MVP in helping the Blazers to the Arby’s Classic championship.
Reece Jackson , Richland Northeast: Sophomore averaged 17 points, 4.5 steals, 3.5 steals, 3 assists in RNE’s two wins at Cavalier Showcase.
Bryson Johnson , Northside Christian: Johnson averaged 20.3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals at North Henderson Invitational.
Jayden Lewis , Camden: Eighth-grader was MVP of Bennie Bennett Holiday Classic and averaged 18.3 points per game in wins over River Bluff , Newberry and AC Flora.
Milton McCray, CA Johnson: Junior averaged 17 points and 3 assists and was selected to the Roundball Classic All-Tournament team.
Sam Mills , Lexington: Junior big man averaged 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game at the Northwood (NC) Tournament and Roundball Classic.
Girls Player of Week nominees
Sydni Anderson , Lexington: Senior averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds in three games at Carolina Invitational.
Skylar McCray , AC Flora: Senior averaged 11 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2 steals in three games over the break.
Jordan Samuel , Lugoff-Elgin: Sophomore averaged 25.5 points, 9.5 steals and 3.5 assists in two games against Crestwood and West Florence.
Chaelyn Tifre, River Bluff : Senior had 15 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists in the Gators’ lone game over the break, a 50-47 win over Nation Ford.
January 6, 2026 | State, The: Web Edition Articles (Columbia, SC)
Author/Byline: Lou Bezjak, The State | Section: high_school