I-65 South & I-74 East to the Ohio River
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The featured image is of Mollie Ernstes Mollie Ernstes 5'11" | SG Jennings County | 2026 State IN (2026) of Jennings County High School. Five years ago, when I first started with Prep Girls Hoops, I introduced different areas of…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Mollie Ernstes Mollie Ernstes 5'11" | SG Jennings County | 2026 State IN (2026) of Jennings County High School.
Five years ago, when I first started with Prep Girls Hoops, I introduced different areas of the state and their top prospects. I wanted to again work through that this Fall and offer you a much more detailed look at the Hoosier State’s different regions and the prospects who should shine this Winter throughout those regions. As we near the end of these reports, we have a couple of odd-shaped areas left to cover. This article will focus on the ladies from Brown County and Jackson County, East to the Ohio State Line and the Ohio River. It specifically includes the counties of Bartholomew, Brown, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland. There are 27 total schools spread throughout those 11 counties, and there is nice balance in terms of school sizes, with five being from class 4A, seven being from Class 3A, seven being from Class 2A, and eight being from Class A.
It has been a few years, but over a four-year stretch within the last nine seasons, the area has seen a lot of tournament success. Jac-Cen-Del (2015-2016 Class A) and Columbus North (2014-2015 Class 4A) have each won state titles, while Columbus North (2015-2016 Class 4A) and Greensburg (2017-2018 Class 3A) have each been state runners-up in their respective classes. The combination of these 27 schools have also produced quite a bit of talent, with a number of girls moving on to college basketball of levels. Recently, players like Hope Fox (East Central 2022), Koryn Greiwe (Columbus East 2022), Katherine Benter (Brownstown Central 2021), Sydney Jaynes (Trinity Lutheran 2021), Paige Ledford (Jac-Cen-Del 2021), Jade Nutley (Madison 2021), Kyrstin Bond (South Dearborn 2020), Aliyah Evans (Greensburg 2020), Juliana Kemper (Lawrenceburg 2020), Makenna Fee (Seymour 2019), and Hattie Westerfeld (Batesville 2019) have represented these counties well. Fox and Jaynes were also selected as Indiana All-Stars in their respective graduating classes.
Still, though, there are a number of girls who go underrecruited throughout their careers, and this is an area where small colleges can find some real gems, plus there is typically a Division-I prospect in most graduating classes from these 11 counties. With that said, I wanted to take the time to highlight a handful of girls who may not often grab the spotlight, but who deserve their share of recognition for their basketball abilities. All of these girls are strictly from the counties of Bartholomew, Brown, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland.
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Reagan Hughes
Reagan
Hughes
5'8" | SG
Jac-Cen-Del | 2024
IN
, 2024, 5-8 SG, Jac-Cen-Del H.S.
– Reagan is a long and wiry, fairly smooth, and versatile guard prospect. She is an excellent perimeter shooter with some range, but over the years she has continued working on her handle and creativity, and she’s able to spend time as the team’s primary ball-handler. She is more of a game manager at the point, but she finds teammates and rarely makes the same mistake twice. I also like her ability to use her length to defend, whether she is on or off the ball. She has drawn significant small college interest.
Nicole Mears
Nicole
Mears
5'11" | PF
Franklin County | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, 5-11 CF, Franklin County H.S.
– Nicole is a versatile forward who has the capability of playing inside or out. She has an athletically strong frame plus some length. She can play physical inside, as evidenced by her 10.1 rebounds per game last year, or she can face the basket in the mid-post, plus she can handle the ball and knock down shots around the perimeter. Her position in college will depend on what her school of choice sees her as in their specific system. She has seen her recruiting really take off over the past couple of months.
Julia Meyer
Julia
Meyer
5'10" | SF
Jac-Cen-Del | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, 5-10 SF, Jac-Cen-Del H.S.
– Julia was another interesting watch this Spring & Summer, because she came out of nowhere her Junior season for the Lady Eagles. She carried that strong play into the grassroots season and showed she was capable of scoring the basketball at all three levels. She has some strength and does a nice job of attacking the basket North/South. At the same time, she is a very good perimeter and mid-range shooter. She will need to get a bit quicker laterally for the next level, but she has a lot of small college interest.
Madi Allen
Madi
Allen
5'9" | SG
North Decatur | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, 5-9 SF, North Decatur H.S.
– Madi has been a big part of North Decatur’s success the last couple of seasons, and she looks to lead the Lady Chargers once again in 2023-2024. She has nice length, an athletic and wiry frame, and she’s a solid athlete in all directions. She plays a point forward role, she can put pressure on opponents by pushing the ball in transition or running the floor without the ball, and she is a really nice attacker from the perimeter. Additionally, she is a versatile defender who can take on all types of perimeter players.
Miley McClellan
Miley
McClellan
6'0" | SF
Columbus North | 2026
State
IN
, 2026, 5-11 SF, Columbus North H.S.
– Miley is a really nice athlete, she has a long, wiry-strong frame, and she saw quite a few minutes for the Lady Bulldogs in 2022-2023, averaging 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. She can attack the basket with her athleticism, but she also has nice touch in the mid-range game, plus she’s developing a perimeter touch…she has really worked on her consistency. She isn’t present during the grassroots season, because she is a talented softball player as well and spends a lot of time on the diamond.
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Additional Southeastern Indiana Prospects in Our Rankings for 2024-2026:
Journee Brown
Journee
Brown
6'1" | C
Seymour | 2024
IN
, 2024, Seymour H.S.
Alexis Carson
Alexis
Carson
6'0" | C
Jennings County | 2024
IN
, 2024, Jennings County H.S.
Alivia Elmore
Alivia
Elmore
5'8" | SF
Jennings County | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Jennings County H.S.
Liza Froedge
Liza
Froedge
5'10" | SF
Trinity Lutheran | 2024
IN
, 2024, Trinity Lutheran H.S.
Jenna Guse
Jenna
Guse
5'9" | SG
Columbus East | 2024
IN
, 2024, Columbus East H.S.
Ella Kunz
Ella
Kunz
6'0" | C
North Decatur | 2024
IN
, 2024, North Decatur H.S.
Madelyn Poe
Madelyn
Poe
5'6" | PG
Columbus East | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Columbus East H.S.
Elise Preston
Elise
Preston
5'7" | CG
Columbus North | 2024
IN
, 2024, Columbus North H.S.
Kendall Sterling
Kendall
Sterling
5'10" | SF
Seymour | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Seymour H.S., committed to Thomas More University
Kathryn Wilson
Kathryn
Wilson
5'10" | PF
Columbus North | 2024
IN
, 2024, Columbus North H.S.
Juliann Woodard
Juliann
Woodard
6'1" | PF
Jennings County | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Jennings County H.S., committed to Michigan State University
Kiley Best
Kiley
Best
5'7" | SG
South Decatur | 2025
IN
, 2025, South Decatur H.S.
Lydia Haskamp
Lydia
Haskamp
6'0" | C
Batesville | 2025
IN
, 2025, Batesville H.S.
Emily Klem
Emily
Klem
5'9" | SF
East Central | 2025
IN
, 2025, East Central H.S.
Alyson Peters
Alyson
Peters
5'11" | PF
Batesville | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, Batesville H.S.
Ava Turner
Ava
Turner
6'0" | SF
Shawe Memorial | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, Shawe Memorial H.S.
Leah West
Leah
West
6'1" | PF
Greensburg | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, Greensburg H.S.
Mylie Wilkison
Mylie
Wilkison
5'7" | CG
Greensburg | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, Greensburg H.S.
Juliana Davis
Juliana
Davis
5'6" | CG
Madison Consolidated | 2026
State
IN
, 2026, Madison Consolidated H.S.
Mollie Ernstes
Mollie
Ernstes
5'11" | SG
Jennings County | 2026
State
IN
, 2026, Jennings County H.S.
Mary Harmon
Mary
Harmon
5'8" | PG
Greensburg | 2026
State
IN
, 2026, Greensburg H.S.
Aubree LaBazzo
Aubree
LaBazzo
5'4" | PG
Lawrenceburg | 2026
IN
, 2026, Lawrenceburg H.S.
Alyson Powers
Alyson
Powers
5'9" | SG
Greensburg | 2026
State
IN
, 2026, Greensburg H.S.
Sophie Skidmore
Sophie
Skidmore
5'8" | SF
Seymour | 2026
State
IN
, 2026, Seymour H.S.