Ray Hamill/HUmboldtSports.com – Arcata’s Luke Lemke has been nominated for the Sports Illustrated National High School Boys Athlete of the Week.

By Ray Hamill — One of the best local high school athletes we’ve seen in recent years is getting some national attention after a huge performance last week.

Arcata senior Luke Lemke scored 51 points in a Big 5 boys basketball showdown against Fortuna on Thursday night, setting a new school record in the process.

And now he’s been nominated for a prestigious national honor because of his monster night.

On Monday, Sports Illustrated included Lemke as one of 15 nominees for National High School Boys Athlete of the Week for Jan. 5-11.

The winner will be decided by a national vote, and fans can cast their vote for the Arcata senior here.

His performance against the Huskies warranted inclusion.

“I’ve never seen a performance like that,” Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard said afterwards. “He just had a different gear tonight.”

Lemke is one of two players from the North Coast Section to be included among the nominees, along with St. Vincent De Paul senior Jack Ellis, who scored 32 points in a 68-60 win over Healdsburg.

Tillamook’s Griffyn Boomer (Oregon) also has been included after scoring 50 points in an 87-8 win over The Dalles.

According to SI, Lemke set a new Arcata High School single-game record.

As of Tuesday evening, just under 7,000 votes have been cast and Lemke leads the way.

The senior standout, who was the Big 5 MVP as a sophomore, has garnered an impressive 36.3 percent of the votes, which is almost 11 percent more than Ellis in second.

Anyone who wants to vote can do so up until Sunday night at midnight and the winner will be announced early next week.