The 2021 Lexington Herald-Leader All-State Girls’ Basketball Team is here
The Herald-Leader is proud to announce its 2021 All-State Girls’ Basketball Teams as voted on by high school coaches across the commonwealth.
Franklin County’s Brooklynn Miles, who earlier in the week was named Kentucky’s Miss Basketball by another organization, was affirmed as the Herald-Leader’s Player of the Year among 50 All-State honorees.
Miles, a Tennessee commit, received 25 Player of the Year nods to top a balanced field of first-team players who each garnered first-place votes themselves. Bethlehem’s Ella Thompson, who recently announced her commitment to Tennessee Martin, came in second in the balloting and earned 15 first-place votes.
Joining Miles and Thompson on the first team are a number of fellow Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches region players of the year, including Butler’s Tiarra East, a Temple commit, Wayne County’s Macey Blevins, who is going to Western Kentucky, and Marshall County’s Cayson Carter, who helped lead her team to the Girls’ Sweet 16 finals and recently committed to Murray State.
Juniors Amiya Jenkins of Anderson County and Gracie Merkle of Bullitt East also made the first-team list, as did Rowan County sophomore Haven Ford.
A couple of eighth-graders also attracted recognition this year with Shelby County’s Zakiyah Johnson getting second-team honors and Elizabethtown’s Leah Macy appearing on the third team.
The Herald-Leader All-State Teams are based on coaches’ selections in a statewide survey conducted by the Lexington Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com. Players are listed in order of point totals based on coaches’ votes. There are three teams of 10 players, plus 20 honorable mentions.
First team
| Player, Team | Ht. | Class | Ppg | Notes | All-State Points | POY votes |
| Brooklynn Miles, Franklin County | 5-6 | Sr. | 16.4 | Miss Basketball, Tennessee commit, four 11th Region titles | 452 | 25 |
| Ella Thompson, Bethlehem | 5-10 | Sr. | 17.9 | Tennessee Martin commit, back-to-back All “A” Classic champs, KABC 5th Region player of the year | 371 | 15 |
| Macey Blevins, Wayne County | 5-10 | Sr. | 18.3 | Western Kentucky commit, KABC 12th Region player of the year, program’s all-time scoring leader | 359 | 6 |
| Tiarra East, Butler | 5-10 | Sr. | 16.5 | Temple commit, KABC 6th Region player of the year | 343 | 8 |
| Brie Crittendon, Ryle | 5-10 | Sr. | 14.2 | Eastern Kentucky commit, 2019 Sweet 16 champ, KABC 9th Region player of the year | 340 | 7 |
| Harley Paynter, Boyd County | 5-7 | Sr. | 16.5 | Tennessee Tech commit, KABC 16th Region player of the year | 334 | 6 |
| Amiya Jenkins, Anderson County | 5-11 | Jr. | 17.2 | Leading scorer, Integral part of back-to-back 8th Region champions | 284 | 4 |
| Cayson Conner, Marshall County | 5-7 | Sr. | 14.0 | Murray State commit, KABC 1st Region player of the year | 196 | 2 |
| Gracie Merkle, Bullitt East | 6-6 | Jr. | 18.3 | State leader in field goal percentage at 73.5% | 188 | 3 |
| Haven Ford, Rowan County | 5-5 | So. | 23.5 | Averages a double-double with 10.6 rebounds per game | 162 | 2 |
Second team
| Player, Team | Ht. | Class | Ppg |
| Triniti Ralston, Sacred Heart | 5-5 | So. | 13.2 |
| Jaileyah Cotton, Bardstown | 5-6 | Jr. | 21.4 |
| Mya Meredith, Scott | 6-0 | Sr. | 20.4 |
| Marie Keifer, Bishop Brossart | 6-0 | Sr. | 19.6 |
| Josie Gilvin, Sacred Heart | 5-10 | Jr. | 9.8 |
| Trinity Rowe, Pikeville | 5-5 | Fr. | 15.1 |
| Kensley Feltner, Lawrence County | 5-10 | So. | 28.3 |
| Lexy Lynch, Owsley County | 5-8 | Sr. | 19.5 |
| Cassidy Rowe, Shelby Valley | 5-6 | Jr. | 12.9 |
| Zakiyah Johnson, Shelby County | 5-11 | 8th | 21.8 |
Third team
| Player, Team | Ht. | Class | Ppg |
| Allie Stone, West Carter | 5-6 | Jr. | 21.0 |
| Katie Moore, Floyd Central | 5-8 | Sr. | 18.1 |
| Shaelyn Steele, Russell | 5-5 | Fr. | 13.7 |
| Alexa Smiddy, Southwestern | 5-6 | Sr. | 15.0 |
| Aubrey Hill, Russell | 6-0 | Sr. | 15.1 |
| Amelia Hodges, Bethlehem | 5-5 | Sr. | 15.1 |
| Sadie Wurth, Henderson County | 5-4 | Sr. | 13.9 |
| Halle Langhi, Marshall County | 6-2 | Jr. | 12.8 |
| Leah Macy, Elizabethtown | 6-0 | 8th | 18.9 |
| Jaya McClure, Christian Academy-Louisville | 5-6 | Jr. | 17.0 |
Honorable mention
Kelsie Woodard, Menifee County; Courtney Hoskins, Leslie County; LynKaylah James, Bowling Green; Elise Ellison-Coons, Paul Laurence Dunbar; Lucy Patterson, Warren East; Hailee Valentine, North Laurel; Bailey Rucker, Boyd County; Madison Calvin, Ballard Memorial; Whitney Caldwell, Pineville; BreAnna Tincher, Jackson City; Sydney Lockard, Dixie Heights; Kaylee Banks, Letcher Central; Sammi Sites, Johnson Central; Kyera Thornsbury, Belfry; Brianna Byars, Clark County; Hayley Caudill, Perry County Central; Kaeli Ross, Russell; Kiera Mullins, Knott Central; Alyssa Elswick, Shelby Valley; Rachel Presley, South Laurel.
Methodology: Our annual All-State survey was emailed to all 272 KHSAA girls’ basketball coaches in Kentucky using their email registered with the KHSAA. Multiple attempts were made to encourage every school to participate. Coaches were asked to select their top 10 players and points were assigned based on a player’s position on the ballot (10 points for Player of the Year, nine points for No. 2, eight points for No. 3, etc.), and tabulated across all ballots received. The top 50 players receiving votes made our All-State list. This year, 99 coaches participated.
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
