Sussex Hamilton's Patrick Baldwin, Arrowhead's Carter Gilmore and St. Catherine's Tyrese Hunter tabbed first-team AP all-state

These were all slam dunks.

If you followed the play of Sussex Hamilton’s Patrick Baldwin Jr., Arrowhead’s Carter Gilmore and Racine St. Catherine’s Tyrese Hunter this past basketball season, it was clear that each was playing on a higher plane.

The three were the go-to players on three of the area’s best teams, squads that either won a conference title (Arrowhead), was on the verge of a state tournament berth (Hamilton) or achieved both (St. Catherine’s).

On the Associated Press all-state boys basketball team, which was released Thursday night, each claimed first-team distinction from a statewide panel of sportswriters that selected the state’s 20 best players regardless of division or class.

It was the second piece of good news of the day for Baldwin. Gatorade named him its state player of the year. The 6-foot-9 forward didn’t claim the top honor on the AP team – that award went to La Crosse Central’s Johnny Davis – but Baldwin claimed first-team distinction for the second straight season.

Baldwin’s junior season was his best yet. He established career-highs in scoring (24.3 ppg), rebounding (10.8 rpg) and assists (4.2). His scoring and rebounding averages led the team. He ranked second in assists.

Efficiency was one of Baldwin’s strengths. He hit 43.2% (67 of 155) from three-point range. He shot 54% overall while taking 37% of his attempts from three-point range.

Gilmore and Hunter received honorable mention on the team last year. Here is why each earned a spot on the first team.

* Gilmore, a 6-7 forward who accepted an invitation to walk-on to the University of Wisconsin's program, was named the Classic 8 Conference player of the year for the second straight season. He averaged 26.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per game while hitting 53.5% of his shots overall and 33.3% from three-point range.

* Hunter, a 6-1 guard who has a scholarship offer from Marquette, averaged 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3 steals per game for the Angels, who went undefeated in the Metro Classic and advanced to the sectional final before the rest of the season was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

His shooting percentages of 53.4% overall, 40.9% from three-point range and 69.6% were career highs.

In all, eight of the 20 players on the four all-state teams came from the area.

Here is the complete list. Area players are listed in bold.

AP all-state team

Player of the year: Johnny Davis, sr., La Crosse Central   

Coach of the year: Jerry Petitgoue, Cuba City

First team

Patrick Baldwin Jr., 6-9, jr., Sussex Hamilton (unanimous)  

Johnny Davis, 6-5, sr., La Crosse Central (unanimous)  

Carter Gilmore, 6-7, sr., Arrowhead

Tyrese Hunter, 6-1, jr., Racine St. Catherine’s

Jacob Ognacevic, 6-8, sr., Sheboygan Lutheran

Second team

Dalton Banks, 6-2, sr., Eau Claire North

David Joplin, 6-7, jr., Brookfield Central

Max Klesmit, 6-3, sr., Neenah

Isaiah Stewart, 6-0, sr., Madison La Follette

AJ Vukovich, 6-5, sr., East Troy

Third team

Jake Buchanan, 6-0, sr., Kimberly

Jordan Davis, 6-4, sr., La Crosse Central

Alex Huibregtse, 6-4, sr., Grafton

Keonte Jones, 6-3, sr., Madison East

Preston Ruedinger, 6-2, jr., Oshkosh Lourdes

Fourth team

Cole Booth, 6-1, sr., Plymouth

Brayden Dailey, 6-6, jr., Cuba City

Mason Dorn, 6-1, jr., Seymour

Kobe Johnson, 6-3, jr., Nicolet

Kamari McGee, 6-0 jr., Racine St. Catherine’s

Honorable mention

Alex Antetokounmpo, sr., Dominican; Carson Arenz, sr., Onalaska; Grant Beirne, sr., Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau; Charlie Bender, jr., Lake Mills; Caden Boser, sr., Eau Claire Memorial; Michael Casper, sr., Merrill; Aidan Clarey, sr., Brookfield Academy; John Bunks, sr., Appleton Xavier; Ryan Claflin, sr., Southern Door; Cole Crubel, sr., River Ridge; Mason Dopirak, jr., Manitowoc Lincoln; Ben Emler, sr., Columbus; Will Fuhrmann, sr., Reedsburg; Logan Geissler, sr., Bay Port; Derek Gray, sr., Madison La Follette; Reed Gunnink, sr., Laconia; Cade Hall, sr., Mauston; Darius Hannah, sr., Milwaukee Academy of Science; Luke Healy, jr., Hudson; Sam Haese, jr., Wrightstown; Adam Hobson, sr., Stoughton; Logan Jedwabny, sr., Kaukauna; Jordan Johnson, jr., Elkhorn; Zac Johnson, jr., River Falls; Matthew Kissner, sr., Pittsville; Mason Kramer, sr., Prairie du Chien; Gabe Krueger, sr., Wausau East; Carter Lancaster, jr., Darlington; Grant Manke, sr., Bangor; Cade Meyer, jr., Monroe; Quinton Murrell, jr., Milwaukee King; Parker Nielsen, sr., Prescott; Brady Olson, sr., Cuba City; Peyton Rogers-Schmidt, sr., Chippewa Falls; Cameron Palesse, jr., Waukesha West; Brandin Podziemski, jr., St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy; Colin Schaefer, sr., Sun Prairie; Donovan Schwartz, sr., Winnebago Lutheran Academy; Tyrell Stuttley, sr., Onalaska; Kaleim Taylor, sr., Milwaukee Academy of Science; Karter Thomas, sr., Oshkosh West; JaKobe Thompson, jr., Racine Case; Terrance Thompson, sr., La Crosse Central; Casey Verhagen, soph., Sheboygan Lutheran; Caleb Williams, sr., Wild Rose.

Contact Mark Stewart at Mark.Stewart@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MarkStewartMJS.