Voting Opens for Varsity 845 Girls Basketball Players of the Week

Kingston’s Tori Fall and Warwick’s Reese Girardi headline a field of 42 candidates from Section 9 high schools vying in Varsity 845’s girls basketball players of the week polls for Feb. 2-8 and Feb. 9-15. "The Varsity 845 girls basketball players of the week polls are online for Feb. 2-8 and Feb. 9-15 - two polls for large schools and two for small schools," the program posted as voting opened across the Hudson Valley.

Fans can cast ballots on the RecordOnline sports page; officials urge community members to weigh in because winners are announced each week on the @Varsity845 account on X/Twitter. "Vote as often until Sunday, Feb. 22, at 11 p.m.," reads the social call to action for the Feb. polls. The four ballots split candidates into two large-school and two small-school groupings so players from larger programs and smaller schools compete in parallel contests.

Coaches remain the primary gatekeepers for nominations and game reporting. "Coaches are encouraged to provide their game reports in order for athletes to be chosen; they may also nominate one player from their team by Sunday afternoon," the program notes, and coaches are reminded to report home games and out-of-county contests to sports@th-record.com. The program enforces representation rules: "One athlete per school is allowed per week. The week’s winner will have to sit out the next poll," and selected candidates do not include previous winners, ensuring rotation across communities in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties.

Several players on the Feb. ballots come with game-by-game evidence from early February. Tori Fall scored 16 points in Kingston’s 65-45 win over Poughkeepsie on Feb. 12. Reese Girardi had 14 points in Warwick’s 62-13 victory over Monticello on Feb. 13. Middletown’s Mikayla Thomas scored 12 points in a 40-22 win over Beacon on Feb. 9 and added 11 points in Middletown’s 43-36 loss to Newburgh on Feb. 13; Monticello’s Alex Williams had seven points in a 62-13 loss to Warwick on Feb. 13. Gianna Banks of Kingston appears on the large-school candidate list though the published excerpt did not include a stat line.

The broader candidate pool and recent past winners show the program’s reach across Orange County. Recent victors include Camryn Ardovino of Washingtonville and Jalyssa Garcia of Rondout Valley, winners for the Dec. 1-7 poll, and Jayden Ferguson of Middletown and Ella Herbert of Sullivan West, winners for the Jan. 26-Feb. 1 poll. Newburgh’s T.T. Burden drew attention in December with 34 points on Dec. 18, a performance that "took the career scoring record for NFA girls", illustrating how the polls spotlight milestone moments as well as weekly achievements.

Local coaches and players say the visibility matters to programs from Pine Bush to Sullivan West; as nominations close each Sunday afternoon, the voting window that runs through Feb. 22 at 11 p.m. gives neighbors a chance to lift a student-athlete into the weekly spotlight. Coaches with reports or nominations can email sports@th-record.com, and residents can follow @Varsity845 on X for the winners’ announcements.