Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Xochitl Nieves, Half Moon Bay basketball

Half Moon Bay basketball player Xochitl Nieves is the Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week for March 3-8.

In online voting that ended at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nieves finished with 37.20% of the votes. Piedmont basketball player Janelle Solis took second with 21.74% and California School for the Deaf softball player Timaree Serrano was third.

Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.

The junior guard scored 15 points in a NorCal Division IV semifinal victory over Rio Linda, sending the Cougars to their first-ever regional final in program history.

To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com by Monday at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.

We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.

Votes by email do not count. Only votes submitted through the online poll on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites will count.

Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites and in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sections.