Who should be the Longplex Girls Basketball Player of the Week for Week 1 of the high school hoops season? Check out the nominees, then cast your vote!
And we’re off.
The first full week of the 2025-26 Rhode Island high school basketball season was interrupted briefly by some real world events. While it forced postponements, there was still plenty of hoops throughout Rhode Island.
A limited schedule might mean limited games, but there were plenty of big-time performances. As always, finding nominees for Longplex Athlete of the Week for Girls Basketball wasn’t hard. Narrowing the list to five was.
So who will be the Player of the Week? We’ll step aside for this part and let you, the reader, decide.
To cast your vote, check out the bios to see what this week’s nominees did on the court, then scroll to the bottom of the page and pick who you think should be honored as Player of the Week. Voting opens Monday morning and runs until Friday night. You can vote as many times as you’d like from now until the poll closes and the winner will be announced in this space next week.
Who was the Longplex Girls Basketball Preseason Player of the Year?
It was a three-player race, but Cranston West’s Kyla Buco pulled it out with backing from the Falcon faithful. The senior guard finished with just over 34 percent of the total vote, besting Scituate’s Brooklyn Russillo - who had over 24 percent of the vote - and Lincoln School’s Sarah Berube, who had 16 percent of the vote. Smithfield’s Annabelle Lally also had strong support and nearly received 10 percent of the total vote.
Congratulations to Buco and the Cranston West fans who powered her to victory!
What does the Player of the Week receiver?
The prize for Longplex Basketball Player of the Week is a simple one - it’s a big bucket of clout.
The award is designed to be an interactive way for the state’s most passionate basketball communities to show support for their local players. We want schools, teams and players to create social media campaigns to garner support and try and earn as many votes as possible. When a player wins, the whole community, does as well - and we really discover which communities truly support high school hoops.
How does a player get nominated for Player of the Week?
The first step is easy - ball out on the court and do everything you can to lead your team to victories. We’re not looking for stat-padders, we’re looking at players who play well against tough competition and get wins. Players who have extraordinary efforts in defeat will be considered, but winning games puts you on the fast track to a nomination.
The second step is making sure the state’s basketball coaches are reporting scores and stats to the Providence Journal. That means on the night of games, we ask the home team coaches email a clear photograph of both sides of the official scorebook to the Providence Journal at [email protected] no later than 10 p.m. Please make sure the book is filled out properly, complete with names and numbers, and points are totaled.
Home team coaches who do not provide information will not have their players considered for the weekly award. Coaches who do not send will also be named in our nightly basketball roundup as well as on social media.
So that’s everything you need to know about the Longplex Basketball Player of the Week of Award. Go check out this week’s nominees and start voting!!!
Longplex Girls Basketball Player of the Week Nominees
Genesis Castro, Barrington
The sophomore transfer has made an immediate impact for the Eagles and continued to play well in the first full week of the season. Castro, a guard, led Barrington with 17 points in its 50-41 win over North Kingstown and then scored 25 in a tough 52-48 loss to defending state champ Ponaganset.
Lilly DaSilveira, Mt. Hope
DaSilveira let Division II know she’s going to be a problem all season long. The senior forward’s toughness showed in her 22-point performance in a 41-36 loss to defending D-II champ Narragansett. DaSilveira bounced right back with a 30 ball in the Huskies’ 57-23 win over Toll Gate.
Marron Nerney, Ponaganset
With two postponements earlier in the week, the defending state champs only got one game in and Nerney made sure the Chieftains were victorious. Up against Barrington - fresh off big wins vs. North Kingstown and Westerly - Nerney scored 15 points to go with 18 rebounds in Ponaganset’s 53-48 win.
Violet Silvia, Portsmouth
The Patriots opened the season on the road against Chariho Wednesday and Silvia showed she’s ready to make a leap this winter. The sophomore guard had a sparkling opener, hitting five 3-pointers and leading Portsmouth with 23 points in a 59-28 win over Chariho.
Lia Wasilewski, Pilgrim
It was a busy week for the Patriots and Wasilewski helped it end up as a successful one. The junior guard ran the show for Pilgrim with 17 points in a 51-18 win over Woonsocket. Following a loss to Division III favorite Exeter-West Greenwich, Wasilewski made sure the Patriots bounced back with 16 points in a 47-35 win over Cranston East.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Longplex Providence Journal Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Category: General Sports
