Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Lilly Williams added more hardware to her collection Monday, becoming the 45th recipient of the 2026 Mick McCabe Miss Michigan award, given out to the top senior girls basketball player in Michigan.

"I am super thankful for the kind of recognition I've got this season," Williams said. "It's more than anything I could have asked for."

The award is named in honor of Mick McCabe, who covered high school sports for the Detroit Free Press for 55 years.

Williams averaged six blocks per game, to go with 17.4 points and 12.2 rebounds, leading the Highlanders to 23-2 season, falling in the regional semifinals to top-ranked Belleville.

According to the Free Press, Williams finished with 3,402 points from voters, and received 545 first-place votes on the 978 ballots cast.

Muskegon's Mariah Sain finished second with 1,973 points. Belleville's Se'Crette Carter was third with 1,776 and Flint Powers Catholic's Kendyl Smith was fourth with 1,651 points.

The award is selected by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. Only BCAM members are permitted to vote.

Coaches were required to vote for three finalists, with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis, according to the Free Press linked below.

Williams, a 6-foot-5 center, committed to Michigan State women's basketball, played one season of high school basketball at a school sponsored by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

For her first three years, Williams was homeschooled and played for the HEA Firebirds – a homeschool program in Farmington Hills.

Williams also is a 2026 McDonald's All-American and the Gatorade Player of the Year in Michigan.

"Those kinds of things have always been a goal of mine growing up," Williams said. "It wasn't possible when I was a part of the homeschool program because we weren't a part of the public schools in the MHSAA. That was a really big deciding factor of me going to a public school for my senior season."

Photos by Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press