McLaughlin Named Miss Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS – It’s been quite a senior year for Homestead High School senior Karissa McLaughlin. The whirlwind year got a little more wild Thursday when McLaughlin was named Miss Basketball in Indiana, topping off an outstanding high school hoops career.
McLaughlin, who led Homestead to an IHSAA Class 4-A state championship in March, was named Miss Basketball at the Indiana Sports Awards at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis. McLaughlin received 155 votes of the 388 ballots submitted by the state’s coaches and media. Dana Evans of Gary West was runner-up with 91 votes and Greenfield-Central star Madison Wise was third with 62 votes.
McLaughlin is heading to Purdue to continue her hoops career, Evans to Louisville and Wise to iowa State.
McLaughlin was named the Gatorade Indiana Girls Basketball Player of the Year earlier this year. Her name was also in the headlines this spring when she backed out of a commitment to Florida and chose to play for Purdue following a coaching change in Gainsville.
The star guard has strong local ties to the Warsaw community. Her mother Sheila (Whitaker) played basketball at Warsaw Community High School. Her father Bert was a standout player at Grace College from 1993-97 and was also on the JV boys basketball coaching staff at WCHS during the 1997-98 season. He later was also the girls basketball head coach at Churubusco, Central Noble and East Noble high schools.