2016 Herald-Leader All-State boys’ basketball team

From second-string to top billing; that’s the reversal Carson Williams made when it came to selections for the Lexington Herald-Leader’s All-State boys’ basketball team in 2016.

Williams, the Owen County standout who last month was named Mr. Basketball, was named Player of the Year after finishing 30 points ahead of Taylor County’s Quentin Goodin on the ballots returned by 52 coaches across the commonwealth. Quite a showing by someone who barely made the All-State second team a year ago.

Fifteen of last year’s top 20 players were seniors, including all but one on the first-team: Goodin. The Xavier signee was considered the favorite for Mr. Basketball heading into the season, especially after the transfers of Eli Wright (Apollo) and Braxton Beverly (Perry County Central) to out-of-state prep schools. All three players finished ahead of Williams in last year’s vote.

But Williams carried Owen County to a 29-4 record, its best in school history, and averaged a double-double (26.7 points, 10.8 rebounds) along the way. The Northern Kentucky signee received 20 first-place votes to 12 for Goodin. Eleven players received first-place nods from the coaches, who were asked not to vote for their own players.

Among those recognized as the state’s best player this season was Taveion Hollingsworth, who earned seven first-place votes. He was named Sweet 16 MVP after leading Paul Laurence Dunbar to its first state championship and, like Goodin this season, will shoulder the “burden” of entering the 2016-17 season as the favorite to win Mr. Basketball. The juniors on the second and third teams will surely follow Williams’ lead and make things interesting.

Newport Central Catholic big man Ben Weyer and Mason Faulkner, Caverna’s all-time scorer, rounded out the top-five vote getters.

Hollingsworth was one of four Lexington All-City players to be named an All-State player. Isaiah “Pun” Tisdale of Henry Clay and Dunbar’s Darius Williams joined Hollingsworth on the first team, giving Lexington as many first-team selections this season as it had over the previous three (Jack Whitman in 2013, Jackson Davis and Jordan Green in 2014, none in 2015). Dunbar point guard Jordan Lewis also was voted among the top 30 players to earn a spot on the third team.

Caleb Taylor (South Laurel), Connor Hoskins (Buckhorn) and Jordan Perry (Morgan County) also were named to the first team.

Dunbar’s All-State trio weren’t the only ones who earned more accolades following their title run. Bulldogs Coach Scott Chalk was selected as Coach of the Year, receiving 25 first-place votes from his peers. Mercer County’s Josh Cook finished second with five votes along with Ron Dawn, who resigned from Newport Central Catholic at the end of the season.

For the first time since 2009, no players from a Louisville school were named to the first team. That year Eric Mosley (Moore) and Chris Dowe (Eastern) were each named to the second team. Male’s Alex Cook and St. Xavier’s Connor McKim were named to the second team and third team, respectively, this season.

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "2016 Herald-Leader All-State boys’ basketball team."