Name: Jayden Riley

School: Yorkville Christian, senior

Sport: Basketball

Why he was selected: Riley scored 45 points and had seven assists in Yorkville Christian’s 79-74 win over Freeport in the regular season finale.

He was selected the Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Other nominees were Sandwich wrestling’s Cooper Corder, Oswego East bowling’s Leah Andrews and Oswego Co-op swimming’s Owen Lippoldt.

Here is Riley’s interview with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

45 points, was that a career high? Was it just one of those games that called for a lot of scoring – were you shooting well?

Riley: Yes it was a career high for high school. I would say no, not really, my teammates and everyone knew it was my last game there so they all just wanted me to go out with a bang and they was just looking for me and wanting me to shoot the ball and i would say I shot the ball well.

What did it mean to do it in your last home game?

Riley: It meant a lot to do it in my last game because it was also senior night so i had tons of family there too and it was just a fun experience to have for my last game there.

How are you guys feeling going into the playoffs? What do you feel will be keys to a deep run?

Riley: I would say we are feeling good. We ended up winning four of our last games and we had a tough schedule this year to prepare us for this run we are trying to make. I would say the biggest thing is to make sure we play with energy and to play like the team that can compete with anyone because when we play with energy and we play fast we have competed with really good teams and there has been other games where we haven’t played with energy and lost to teams that we shouldn’t have.

You’re going to be playing college at this time next year, do you find yourself watching college more?

Riley: Yes I do, I have been watching SIU-Edwardsville and keeping up with them and just watching them play because I’ll be there next year and that’s why I committed early so I can see how they play and kind of get a head start and just kind of know there system before i get on campus.

Is there a team and/or player you like to watch? This can be pro or college.

Riley: I would say Alabama is probably my favorite team to watch because the way they play is fun to watch and my favorite player to watch is [Arkansas’] Darius Acuff and Rob Wright who goes to BYU.