Holiday basketball MVPs and more: Vote for Journal Star high school athlete of the week

After plenty of solid winter sports performers over the last week, here are the Journal Star high school athlete of the week nominees for Dec. 25-30.

Head to pjstar.com/sports to vote. The poll closes at noon Friday. Information about the nominees is below.

If you have a nominee for the honor, email us at sports@pjstar.com or tag us on Twitter @pjstarsports. Last week, Kaylea Randall of the El Paso-Gridley girls basketball team was named JS athlete of the week.

Micah Meiss, El Paso-Gridley boys basketball

Meiss' assist helped cap an incredible comeback for the Titans. With the clock winding down in the State Farm Holiday Classic small-school title game, the junior found Chancesaye Maxon, Jr. open on the right wing. Maxon, Jr. buried the open 3-pointer to give EP-G a 49-48 comeback victory over St. Joseph-Ogden. Meiss scored 12 in the victory while adding all-tournament team honors. He began his week last Wednesday with 15 points against Chicago St. Providence St. Mel, then put in 16 versus Kankakee Bishop Mac in Thursday's quarterfinals. In the semifinal victory against Aurora Christian on Friday, Meiss scored a game-high 23 points.

Tyler Mason, Metamora boys basketball

Mason made the most of Metamora's debut at the Jack Tosh Tournament at York High School in Elmhurst. The senior guard was named tournament MVP following the Redbirds winning five games in five days capped by a thrilling 72-71 overtime victory against Bolingbrook in the title game. His 23 points were a team-high before fouling out. Mason averaged 19 points and 6.2 rebounds in tourney play highlighted by a 17-point, seven-rebound and seven-assist performance in last Tuesday's opening-round win. In the quarterfinals, the reigning Journal Star player of the year had 29 points, including 23 in the first half with five 3-pointers.

Kennedy Quinn, Abingdon-Avon girls basketball

Quinn put herself on the statewide small-school basketball map in a big way. She became the first freshman in the 41-year history of the Lady Tiger Classic at Beardstown to be named tournament MVP. The guard scored 24 points in the title game to lead eighth-seeded A-Town to a 38-31 win over No. 2 Illini Bluffs. She added 19 points and seven rebounds in a 48-41 semifinal victory against Mendon Unity. This came after dropping 25 points in a 68-49 upset win over top-seed Warsaw West Hancock. Her week began last Tuesday with a 21-point effort versus Havana in a 39-32 win.

Aaliyah Guyton, Peoria High girls basketball

Guyton picked up tournament MVP honors at the 45th annual Manual Holiday Tournament. Her title game on Friday was cut short when she suffered a second-quarter knee injury in a blowout loss to Lincoln. However, the Iowa recruit had scored 25 points in Thursday's 66-23 semifinal win over Centralia. The reigning Journal Star player of the year began her week with 24 points against Limestone in a pool play game on Wednesday.

Jackson Carroll, Illini Bluffs boys wrestling

Carroll picked up a career milestone in going undefeated at the Abe's Rumble hosted by Petersburg PORTA on Friday and Saturday. The 144-pound junior grappler went 8-0 in the two-day event, picking up his 100th career victory in the process. In Carroll's eight victories, he collected six pins and two major decisions to run his season record to 15-1.

Karen Canhola, Morton girls wrestling

Canhola picked up a 135-pound title at last Wednesday's Crimson Ladies Invite at Jacksonville High School. The junior remains undefeated at 12-0, winning the championship with a 3-2 decision over Chatham Glenwood's Jenna Tuxhorn. In the semifinal match, Canhola picked up a pin against Collinsville's Leann Cory in 1:36 after doing the same to quarterfinal foe, Audrey Barnes of Granite City, in 5:09.

Pekin co-op boys swimming and diving team

The Dragons, who share the pool with coop partner Tremont, won the Downstate 8 Relays on Saturday. Host Pekin (91 points) took home its first title trophy at the eight-team event in at least a decade by outdistancing themselves from runner-up Dunlap (77) and third-place Metamora (73).

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Vote in the poll for Journal Star high school athlete of the week