11th Region sweeps 2021 Mr. and Miss Basketball awards

For the first time in Kentucky high school basketball history, 11th Region players swept the titles of Mr. and Miss Basketball, the commonwealth’s highest individual honors bestowed upon outstanding seniors.

Mr. Basketball went to Lexington Catholic’s Ben Johnson, a 6-foot-3 guard committed to Bellarmine, while Miss Basketball went to Franklin County’s Brooklynn Miles, a 5-6 point guard committed to Tennessee.

Representatives of the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation, which conducts the annual awards vote by the state’s coaches and media in conjunction with the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches, presented the awards to each player at their respective homes during a live streaming video ceremony Sunday evening in lieu of the normal banquet presentation that would take place if not for the pandemic.

The lack of formality made the awards no less sweet for the recipients as the awards arrived live at their doorsteps to whoops of joy from the players’ families and friends.

“My heart dropped to my toes, literally. That’s what it felt like,” Miles said from her front porch Sunday as she was interviewed remotely after the presentation by awards show hosts Christi Thomas and Brian Milam. “Their screaming made me really happy.”

“I’m still in a little bit of shock. It doesn’t feel real,” Ben Johnson said. “I’ve worked my whole life for this. Ever since I could walk, I’ve had a ball in my hands. … This is indescribable. It’s the best way I could end it.”

Johnson, whose father and two older brothers both played for LexCath, ended his high school career as the Knights’ all-time leading scorer and most prolific three-point shooter. His 2,354 career points rank him fifth all-time in Lexington boys’ high school history. He averaged 27.3 points and 6.1 rebounds his senior year.

“I had two older brothers who always pushed me in the driveway and always made me work hard,” Johnson said. “I had to earn everything here. And I played my four years at Catholic, you know, I had great teammates, great coaches and they kept pushing me and pushing me. I had a great foundation.”

Miles ranks as Franklin County’s second all-time leading scorer (2,278 points) and is only the third girls’ player to surpass 2,000 points. She also ranks as the program’s all-time assist leader (624). Miles played in back-to-back state finals for the Flyers as a seventh- and eighth-grader, starting for the 2017 squad. In her five varsity seasons, the Flyers won four region titles.

“This award means so much to me,” Miles said. “I want younger girls to look up to me and want to be great. I just want everyone to be great and work on whatever they need to work on. I just love my family and my support and my coaches and my teammates and the KHSAA for making all this possible.”

Miles spent a year away from the game as a freshman and expressed how that became part of the time she now draws inspiration from.

“Yeah, I definitely had my ups and downs. I mean, I sat out a whole year of basketball, and now look at me: I’m going to the University of Tennessee, one of the best programs there is in the nation for women’s basketball,” Miles said. “I’m just really proud of myself and just, I love the support. It’s amazing. I’m trying not to cry.”

Johnson becomes the first Lexington Catholic player to be named Mr. Basketball. He is the ninth Mr. Basketball from Lexington and the first since Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Taveion Hollingsworth in 2017.

Miles joins Western Hills’ Connie Goins (1982) as the only Franklin County residents to become Miss Basketball. She is the fourth 11th Region girls’ player to receive the award. Scott County’s Ukari Figgs (1995) won it when the Cardinals were in the 8th Region.

This is the third time Mr. and Miss Basketball have come from the same region. The last time it happened in 2018, they both came from the same school, as well. Mercer County’s Trevon Faulkner and Segan Robins took the honors for the 12th Region. In 1986, Apollo’s Rex Chapman and Owensboro Catholic’s Kris Miller won them out of the 3rd Region.

Coaches and media chose Johnson from among 17 KABC boys’ region players of the year and chose Miles from 16 KABC girls’ players of the year. As has been the tradition over the last several years, voting ended before the postseason began.

Each player of the year was highlighted during the streaming ceremony and honored along with a number of other annual award recipients. The ceremony and companion events help raise money for the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation.

2021 KABC Boys’ Region Players of the Year

Region 1: Noah Dumas, McCracken County and Zion Harmon, Marshall County; Region 2: Destin Allen, Webster County; Region 3: Nash Divine, Muhlenberg County; Region 4: Isaiah Mason, Bowling Green; Region 5: Jaquias Franklin, Elizabethtown; Region 6: Devin Perry, DeSales; Region 7: Cameron Pope, Male; Region 8: Kelly Niece, Simon Kenton; Region 9: Sam Vinson, Highlands; Region 10: Grant Profitt, Scott; Region 11: Ben Johnson, Lexington Catholic; Region 12: Kade Grundy, Somerset; Region 13: Jevonte Turner, Knox Central; Region 14: Jaz Johnson, Wolfe County; Region 15: Isaiah May, Johnson Central; Region 16: Mason Moore, Rowan County.

2021 KABC Girls’ Region Players of the Year

Region 1: Cayson Conner, Marshall County; Region 2: Sadie Wurth, Henderson County; Region 3: Aleigha Mucker, Breckinridge County; Region 4: Lucy Patterson, Warren East; Region 5: Ella Thompson, Bethlehem; Region 6: Tiarra East, Butler; Region 7: Taylor Price, Louisville Central; Region 8: Brynna Blackburn, South Oldham; Region 9: Brie Crittendon, Ryle; Region 10: Mya Meredith, Scott High; Region 11: Brooklynn Miles, Franklin County; Region 12: Macey Blevins, Wayne County; Region 13: Mikkah Siler, Williamsburg; Region 14: Lexy Lynch, Owsley County; Region 15: Katie Moore, Floyd Central; Region 16: Harley Paynter, Boyd County.

Other awards

Ralph Beard Lifetime Achievement Award: Coach Rodney Woods, Wayne County.

Founders Coaching Award: Coach Nell Fookes, Boone County (retired).

Kentucky All-Star Hall of Fame Inductees: Coach Sally Zimmerman, Shelby County (retired) and George Fant, 2011 Kentucky All-Star.

Donna LJ Murphy Award (for female student athlete): Sofia Allen, Scott.

Wallace C. “Wah Wah” Jones Award (for multi-sport athlete): Jackson Green, West Jessamine.

William “Mr. Wildcat” Bill Keightley Award (for team manager): Tucker Bradley, Meade County.

Complete awards list online: https://bit.ly/3tvRsUd