CHAPEL HILL— Elle Sutphin from East Surry High School and Trae Smith from Wakefield High School have been named recipients of the NCHSAA Performance of the Week awards. Each week two athletes in North Carolina High School Athletic Association competition are selected for this award from nominations received from media and school administrators.
Sutphin, a junior from the East Surry women’s basketball team, scored her 1,000th point in the Cardinals 74-40 first-round win over North Stanly. She led the team in scoring with 24 and added eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Sutphin led the Cardinals to a second-round win over Hayesville with 27 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and pairs of steals and assists. Then in the third round against Cherokee, Sutphin rallied her team from 8 points down in the final 31 seconds to force overtime, by scoring six of the team’s needed eight points. She scored six more in overtime to lift her team to a 79-76 overtime win.
Smith, a senior on the Wolverine men’s basketball team, had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds as Wakefield zipped past Apex Friendship in round two. Then in round three, he led Wakefield past Panther Creek scoring a career-high 34 points with 12 of 22 shooting while ripping down six rebounds playing all 32 minutes in the Wolverines’ hard fought 76-73 win.
Weekly recipients will be recognized on the NCHSAA Website and social media pages. They will also be honored at a banquet for all recipients from this year in April. The deadline for nominations is each Monday at 5 p.m through the online form that can be found here.
