DARKE COUNTY — Both of this week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week are basketball players who have shown the ability to score or set up their teammates for points.

This week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week are Arcanum boys basketball player Grady Garno and Tri-Village girls basketball player Shaye Thomas.

Thomas has been one of the key players for Tri-Village the past four years and helped the Lady Patriots advance to state last year. She is having another great season as a senior and quickly is approaching 1,000 career points.

“She’s had a great year,” Tri-Village girls basketball coach Brad Gray said. “Just been our floor general now for four years. I know she’s approaching 1,000 points, which is something that a lot of people probably don’t realize about her because she doesn’t jump out as somebody who is a big-time scorer. But that’s kind of, the 1,000 point mark is what everybody measures scorers by, and I think she’s going to end up surpassing that. A kid that has meant a lot to to our program, has really helped elevate our program to the level that it’s at now.”

This season Thomas is fourth among Darke County girls basketball players in scoring with 13.1 points per game. She also leads the county with 5.8 assists per game, which is 2.3 more per game than anyone else.

“Her strength is she makes everybody around her better,” Gray said. “I think all of our kids would tell you they probably benefit a lot from Shaye’s ability to drive and dish or to get steals and lead people ahead with passes. She just does a lot of good things, I think. Every coach would love to have a kid like Shaye Thomas.”

Like Thomas, Garno is one of the best scorers in Darke County. He averages 14.9 points per game, which is fifth best among Darke County boys basketball players.

Garno also is fourth best in the county with 4.9 assists per game. He is second among Trojans boys basketball players with 4.4 rebounds per game.