Clifford speaks the truth. Coaches can only nominate their kids. Or not... you can't nominate your entire team, and some of those 3rd and 4th decisions are not easy.
Once the nominees are on the table, the other district coaches determine how everything shakes out in the end. So I see 3 possibilities:
1. Catholic, it turns out, does NOT actually have Knoxville's best player. In fact, Catholic does not even have AA District 3's best player.
2. AA District 3 coaches are idiots, or there is some political motive against the player or program.
3. Catholic moms control not only the coaches at Catholic, but, in fact, every coach in the District.
Not having seen any of the teams or players in question, I defer to the rest of you. That said, if Cunningham is as good as you (and, to be fair, some others) have said, Catholic will make noise in the playoffs, and she'll get her due. I'm sure she'd rather be All-State than AA District 3 PoY.