Sun Athletes of the week: Allan Smith and Elizabeth Bitle

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002 | 10:16 a.m.

Male Athlete of the week: ALLAN SMITH

School: Basic

Class: Senior

Sport: Basketball

Last week: Smith, a 6-4 forward, scored 43 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Wolves to a pair of wins over Clark and Vo-Tech. Smith spearheaded a 62-59 come-from-behind victory over the Chargers in Monday's Nevada Sports Network Classic with 21 points and 13 rebounds, then scored a team-high 23 in a 77-41 league win over the Roadrunners on Friday as Basic improved to 5-1 in the Southeast Division. "He gets to the basket well and he can shoot it from anywhere," Wolves coach Kurt Bailey said. "He's also deceptive in how strong he is. He's aggressive on the boards even though he's a thin kid."

Female Athlete of the week: ELIZABETH BITLE

School: Coronado

Class: Junior

Sport: Soccer

Last week: Bitle, a starting midfielder for the first-year Cougars, scored a goal in the final 10 minutes of a 1-0 win over Foothill on Friday. With the score deadlocked at zero and time winding down, Bitle took a crossing pass from Courtney Rowe and deposited it into the Falcon net, improving Coronado to 3-1-2 in the Southeast Division and knocking Foothill out of first place. "(Elizabeth) has got one of the hardest work ethics of anyone on the team," Cougars coach Greg Viscardo said. "She's a good kid with a good attitude and she definitely has the ability to be a weapon and win some games for us."