Daily Chronicle Athletes of the Week: Tessa Prellberg and Cooper Larsen

Tessa Prellberg, Hinckley-Big Rock

Basketball | Junior

Why Prellberg was selected

The Hinckley-Big Rock basketball player scored 73 points in three games last week, leading the Royals to a pair of wins. In an online poll she beat DeKalb basketball player Sanaa Finner, Sycamore basketball player Kylie Feuerbach and Sycamore bowler Megan Kolberg.

• On what was working in her game

"I think it was a team effort. With all the hard work they were doing to help get me open it made it easier for me. We have a pretty solid defense and so because of that I feel confident to put up more shots."

• On what's been the key to success for the 6-3 Royals so far this year

• We've got good chemistry. We've been playing together for so long it's easy for us to put it all together."

• On what the team has to do to keep up its success

"I think it's our defense. A lot of our offense is based off running the court. We're always ready to run. So the defense gets us pumped up food and gives us more confident offensively."

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Cooper Larsen, Indian Creek

Basketball | Senior

Why Larsen was selected

The Indian Creek basketball player scored 64 points in his first four games and helped lead the Timberwolves to a Burney Wilikie Classic title and a 5-0 start to the year. He beat DeKalb basketball player Zach Russell, DeKalb wrestler Tommy Curran and Sycamore wrestler Colton Berg.

• On what part of his game was working best

"I think my down low game was working best for me and my team. If I can get down low and score it brings in the defense, and kickouts are so much easier. Three-pointers are so much easier and they were kind of flowing. We moved the ball really well. If one things wasn't working we moved to another."

• On going 5-0 in a new tourney

"I think we handled it really well. We were excited to play in a tournament like this and change things up. We played against really good teams. I think every team up there was solid and we had a good start to the first game, and that boosted us into the second game and it just kept going. We were really, really hyped up for the last game. We played really well and I think we might have impressed some people too, I don't know."

• On team expectations for the year

"We're going to keep playing the way we do, moving the ball and finding open shots for each other. When we play together we play our best. We like to run, we like to go shoot and we like to get low."