Grace Padilla and Jincho Rivera were honored Monday afternoon in Santa Maria at the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table luncheon.
Padilla, the female athlete of the week, is member of the Santa Ynez girls basketball team. Padilla was named to the Nordoff Tournament all-tournament team after averaging a double-double over the weekend. In the first game of the tournament, Padilla posted a triple-double with 16 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 steals.
"I knew we had to crash boards and play defense," Padilla said. "I definitely got my rebounds up, and once shots started falling, I took them when I was open. I passed when I wasn't. We got back into the groove of it all and came back."
Rivera, the male athlete of the week, is a member of the St. Joseph boys basketball team. Rivera led the Knights to three wins last week while averaging 29.0 points and 14.0 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 34 points against Atascadero last Tuesday. St. Joseph improved to 6-0 on the season.
"I've been scoring, getting rebounds, trying to get good with my teammates, and trying to get better," Rivera said about his big performances.
