TGN Athlete of the Week: Claire Payne

Dec. 20—Helping NorthWood to three wins last week, NorthWood girl basketball junior Claire Payne has been named The Goshen News Athlete of the Week from Dec. 11-17.

With wins over Bremen, Culver Academies and Plymouth, the Panthers were charged forward by Payne who tallied 45 points, 45 rebounds, two blocks, two assists and one steal. Those performances also included an 18-point, 18-rebound double-double over Bremen and a 18-point, 15-rebound double-double in the Northern Lakes showdown against Plymouth.

Those wins pushed NorthWood to a 10-2 start before the Panthers beat a strong Fairfield team this Tuesday.

Payne led with 28 percent of the vote.

Runner-up: Gage Worthman

While Goshen finished 1-1 last week with a win over South Bend Clay and a narrow loss to Northridge in the NLC opener, senior Gage Worthman was a dependable option in both contests.

Highlighted by a 31-point career-high against the Raiders, Worthman totaled 46 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and two steals in the RedHawks two games.

Worthman gathered 25 percent of the vote.

Also nominated: Eva Herbert

Scoring 27 points in two games last week, Fairfield girls basketball's Eva Herbert finished third in the fan vote this week, getting 20 percent of the vote.

In addition to her 27 points, Herbert added eight assists, six rebounds, five steals and a block to power the Falcons forward this past week.

Also nominated: Mason Bales

Junior Mason Bales finished fourth in the voting, getting a tally of 17 percent of the vote.

Bales led a pair of fourth-quarter comebacks this past week for Northridge boys basketball. Stealing a win over then-No 17 South Bend Riley and scoring 22 points to storm past Goshen, the Raiders needed their star to push past in both contests.

The junior totaled 37 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and four steals in two games.

Also nominated: Laish Detwiler

Rounding out the voting was senior Laish Detwiler.

The Goshen wrestling continued to be one of the best at his weight level by putting up a 5-0 week at the Henry Wilk Classic, collecting four falls and a forfeit to also win his 100th match of his career.

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.