Last week we featured the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) 2A All-State players from our coverage area. This week we’re highlighting the local 3A honorees as well as the ASWA 3A Basketball Coach of the Year. Kicking of our list is Plainview’s Caden Millican. Millican, who scored at the buzzer to lift the Bears to the 3A state basketball title for the second straight year, finished his senior campaign with a scoring average of 16.7 points per game through 37 games. Millican also led the Bears off the boards with 5.2 rebounds per game. Additionally, Millican led his team from behind the 3-point arc, shooting 42.1 percent and knocking down 82 of Plainview’s 464 threes this season. Millican shot 71.2 percent inside the arc while hitting 81-of-101 free throws. Finally, Millican led the Bears with 59 steals and 79 assists on the year. For those efforts, Millican earned first-team honors, as well as being named a finalist for ASWA 3A Player of the Year.
On the Girls side, it was no surprise to see Pisgah’s Annie Hughes on the first-team all-state list for the third year in a row. The Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year and ASWA 3A Player of the Year finalist led the Eagles to a second consecutive state title this year, while averaging 21.3 points, seven rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.4 steals. Hughes recently signed a basketball scholarship with Auburn University.
Plainview’s Koby Tinker and Pisgah’s Molly Heard made the second-team all-state roster. Tinker led the Bears scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game. Much of Tinker’s success was due to his long-range ability. Tinker knocked down 124 3-pointers on the season. He made 38.8 percent of his shots from beyond the arc while hitting 107-134 free throws. Tinker was Plainview’s second leading rebounder grabbing 3.9 boards per game. He had 48 steals and 59 assists on the season, culminating in being named 3A state tournament MVP. Heard, just a freshman, made second-team all-state after averaging 12.3 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.4 blocked shots.
Plainview head basketball coach Robi Coker was honored by the ASWA as well, being named 3A Coach of the Year. Coker led the Plainview Bears to a 33-4 record and second consecutive state title. Coker’s team averaged 75.9 points per game while allowing just 55.9. The Bears have also become a 3-point machine under Coker’s watch, draining over 900 treys on their way to back-to-back state titles. Coker also earned his 150th win this season.
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