Cincinnati.com readers selected the Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine's Athletes of the Week from high school sports action through Dec. 21.
In a vote that ended Dec. 26, Cincinnati.com readers selected the 2025-2026 Cincinnati Enquirer/Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Athletes of the Week from high school sports action through Dec. 21.
Winners can print their certificates from this week starting Monday and other weeks now using this Drop Box link. Send a photo of the winners with their certificates for our photo gallery.
Here are this week's winners.
Ohio big-school boys basketball team:St. Xavier – The Bombers are winners of three straight after wins against Trotwood Madison and Ballard.
Ohio small-school boys basketball team:Norwood – Norwood grabbed two wins, slipping by St. Bernard-Elmwood Place before pounding New Richmond.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys basketball team:Grant Country – Grant County is 7-1 and beat Williamstown, Western Hills and Franklin County last week.
Ohio big-school girls basketball team:Ursuline Academy – Ursuline Academy went on the road and took down Summit Country Day, 50-43.
Ohio small-school girls basketball team:Monroe – Monroe claimed a pair of wins over Ross and Cincinnati Christian, building out a four-game winning streak.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls basketball team:St. Henry – The Crusaders won two games at the Mercer Tourism Christmas Clash, beating Mercer County and Casey County.
Boys winter team: Elder bowling – The Panthers won the Holiday Classic, beating Hamilton, Milford and Miamisburg in the bracket as the No. 5 seed.
Girls winter team:Taylor bowling – The Jackets beat Reading 2,009-721 and Deer Park 1,943-1,722 to improve to 5-0 for the season.
Ohio big-school boys basketball:Johnny Vieth, St. Xavier – He was the MVP of the game in a 74-55 win over Trotwood-Madison with 22 points and six rebounds.
Ohio small-school boys basketball:Matthew Dick, Eastern – He had 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting plus nine rebounds and three blocks, in a 69-47 win over Whiteoak.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys basketball:Dylan Topmiller, Beechwood – He averaged 23 points, 5.7 rebounds and four assists in three Tigers wins, including 30 points against Conner.
Ohio big-school girls basketball:Makenna Bowman, Kings – She had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in a comeback win over Anderson.
Ohio small-school girls basketball:Bella Kelly, Blanchester – She had 20 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists in a win over Felicity-Franklin.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls basketball:Anna Bain, St. Henry – She had 15 points and four rebounds in a win over Pendleton County, then had 14 points and two rebounds in a win over Mercer County at the Mercer Tourism Christmas Clash.
Boys big-school bowling:Jace Amann, La Salle – He had games of 255 and 224 in the first GCL South Quad match of the season at Northwest Lanes.
Boys small-school bowling:Josh Royse, Deer Park – He had games of 230 and 218 in a win over Taylor.
Girls big-school bowling:Mary Hollon, Simon Kenton – She finished second in the Boone County singles tournament.
Girls small-school bowling:Lucy Heringer, Deer Park – She had games of 156 and 151 in a win over Madeira.
Ohio boys swimming/diving:John Larson, Talawanda – He improved his 100-yard butterfly time to win in 54.99 seconds and took fifth place in the 100-yard breaststroke in a new season’s best of 1:13.94 at Butler.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys swimming/diving:Zach Kelley, Campbell County – He took fifth place in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.03 seconds and sixth place in the 100-yard freestyle in 55.56 seconds at the St. Henry Winter Classic.
Ohio girls swimming/diving:Maddie Roos, Seton – She won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.78 seconds, took second place in the 100-yard butterfly and swam on two top-two relays at Butler.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls swimming/diving:Jessica Shoemaker, Campbell County – She improved her times in both the 50-yard freestyle (27.49 seconds) and the 500-yard freestyle (6:02.6) at St. Henry.
Boys wrestling:Luke Freund, Wyoming – The senior went 5-0 to win the 285-pound title at the SWOWCA Coaches Classic and is 15-0 for the year with 14 pins.
Ohio girls wrestling:Laylla Sears, Blanchester – At the Washington Court House Queen of the Jungle, Sears went 4-0 in the 100-pound pool with three pins.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls wrestling:Peyton Brinkman, Ryle – Brinkman took first at 107 pounds in the Cardinal Clash, going 4-0 including two pins and a tech fall.
If you win, what's next?
The Enquirer will no longer mail certificates to schools after getting feedback that families weren't receiving them. Alex Harrison will make digital copies of all certificates available to families by 8 a.m. the Monday after the Friday win. Families will access the PDFs through this public Dropbox link.
Once printed, families can email a photo of athletes with their certificates to Melanie Laughman at [email protected], through Messenger on Facebook, or tag her on X at @mlaughman. We'll put those images in a photo gallery.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Enquirer names high school athletes of the week for Dec. 26
Category: General Sports
