The OTH Quarter Century Team: Homestead Spartans girls basketball

Recently, we unveiled our plan to name area programs’ top five players of the 21st century, which sits at 25 seasons in both football and basketball.

Reminder, this is based on high school career performance ONLY. This is by no means a definitive list and, if anything, is encouraging debate on potential omissions to this list.

Through exhaustive research, reaching out to former coaches and players and our own personal opinion, here is the OTH Quarter Century Team for Homestead Spartans girls basketball.

Note: The list is in alphabetical order

Sydney Buck

Buck finished her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer (1,395 points) and setting multiple records, including most three-pointers made (291) and best career shooting percentages from both three (43.2%) and the free-throw line (84.6%). As a senior, she averaged 17.8 points, 3.2 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game, leading Homestead to a 23–2 record, a conference title and a sectional championship. She was named an Indiana All-Star in 2014, earned IBCA Senior All-State First Team and AP All-State Third Team honors.

Sydney Graber

Graber finished her prep career with 1,154 points and 730 rebounds. As a senior, she averaged 15.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, earning First Team All-Conference and All-State honors. A four-time IBCA All-State selection, she helped lead Homestead to a Class 4A state championship as a freshman, four SAC conference titles, and three sectionals. During her senior season, Graber was named the Outside the Huddle Player of the Year in 2020 and was the winner of the Tiffany Gooden Award as the best basketball player in the SAC, regardless of gender.

Karissa McLaughlin

She amassed 2,586 career points, a total that sits among the top 10 in Indiana state history. As a senior, she averaged 25.9 points, 5.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game, while shooting 46.1% from three. She set school records for single-season scoring and single-game points while she capped a remarkable career as 2017 Indiana Miss Basketball and Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year, and led Homestead to the Class 4A state championship with a standout 29-point performance. She went on to play at Purdue, where she became the school’s all-time 3-point leader (244 makes) and scored over 1,300 points before finishing college at Marquette.

Madisen Parker

Parker scored 1,325 career points for Homestead and connected on 44% of her three-pointers during her caeer. As a senior, she averaged 16.8 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game, while knocking down 47.1% from long range and 87.1% from the free-throw line. She helped lead the Spartans to their first Class 4A state championship in 2017, tying the championship game record with five three-pointers made. She was a multiple year IBCA First Team All-State player and was also an Indiana All-Star. Parker continued her career at Bowling Green, where she set the school record for most games played.

Ayanna Patterson

Patterson led the Spartans with 25.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game per game as a senior, earning all of the nation’s top honors including Indiana Miss Basketball, McDonald’s All-American, Jordan Brand All-American, and SLAM All-American in 2022. A nationally ranked No. 4 recruit and the top wing prospect in her class, she also helped Team USA win gold at the 2021 U18 3×3 World Cup. Patterson was an Indiana All-Star and twice the Outside the Huddle Player of the Year before going on to play at UConn. During her Homestead career, Patterson had 1,912 points and 1,005 rebounds and set career records for the program in blocks and rebounds and single game records for scoring (43), blocks and rebounds.

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