Northwest Indiana: The Region

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id='324077' first='Gracie' last='Little'] (2025) of Washington Township High School.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For many years now, it has been heavily debated as to what area the nickname “The Region” truly refers to, and it seems like anyone and everyone from Northwest Indiana has their own definition of this. Officially, any town located within the Chicago Metropolitan Area is a part of “The Region”. This includes all of Lake County in Indiana, which is home to towns like Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Hobart, Merrillville, Munster, and Whiting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While I realize it's a little hypocritical to the above information, in an attempt to bring more attention to lesser-known prospects, we are going to expand the reach of this article like we did with Evansville and Fort Wayne, and we'll consider ladies from any of the Northwest Indiana counties who are located within the Central Daylight Time Zone. This means players from Jasper, LaPorte, Newton, Porter, and Starke counties will also be eligible here.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Year after year Northwest Indiana turns out several talented basketball players and teams, and they tend to be overlooked, underappreciated, and unfortunately feel “less-included” at times from statewide polls, honors, and awards. In general, I think a lack of familiarity with this area of the state contributes to this. At the same time, recent prospects like Riley Ott (<em>LaPorte 2019</em>), Dash Shaw (<em>Crown Point 2020</em>), Courtney Blakely (<em>Hammond Bishop Noll 2021</em>), Trinity Thompson (<em>Michigan City 2021</em>), and Jessica Carrothers (<em>Crown Point 2022</em>) all grew up in Northwest Indiana. All of those ladies were Indiana All-Stars and/or are playing at Division-I schools.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>However, year after year there are many other quality players in Northwest Indiana who often go underrecruited, so I encourage small colleges to drive up I-65 or across U.S. 30 a couple of times each high school season to check out the area teams. Below, 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. Not all of these girls are technically in “The Region”, but they are from the Northwest corner of Indiana.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='127218' first='Olivia' last='Burkett'], 2023, 5-7 W, North Judson-San Pierre H.S.</strong><br>- Olivia is a "jack of all trades" sort of player for the Bluejays. She has a fairly strong frame, some length, and she plays with a nice motor and a quiet toughness. She can play a point forward position and facilitate, but she also has the ability to attack the basket strong and finish inside. She'll defend wings, bigger guards, but she can even act as an undersized post defender when absolutely necessary. She is a very good rebounder, especially at the offensive end, and she simply out-hustles her matchups most games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='372350' first='Abbi' last='Foster'], 2023, 5-9 F, Crown Point H.S.</strong><br>- Abbi began her high school career at Andrean, but she returned to Crown Point after two years. She is another somewhat undersized prospect who outplays her listed height. She has good length, a little bounce, and fluid athleticism. She can knock down the occasional jumper, and she's really good in the mid-post, but she can also attack from there and finish around size. She has gotten stronger and more confident over the years, and the Lady Bulldogs will need her to step up this year, following a couple of frontline graduations.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='460838' first='Akaoma' last='Odeluga'], 2023, 5-11 C, Munster H.S.</strong><br>- Akaoma landed on my radar this past Winter, and while she will still need some polish to her game, she has a lot of intriguing qualities small colleges would love. She is extremely strong/powerful, and she's a people-mover in the paint. She establishes and holds her spot offensively, and she blocks out well and maintains position to rebound. It's not often she has fewer than ten rebounds in a game. She plays with a nice motor, runs the floor North/South reasonably well, and she seems very coachable and eager to learn.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='406433' first='Nadia' last='Clayton'], 2024, 5-8 W, Lake Central H.S.</strong><br>- Lake Central is loaded with talent in the 2024 and 2025 classes, so it can be difficult to not get lost in the shuffle. Nadia, however, has carved out a niche as an outstanding defender with a good motor and a quiet toughness. She is a fairly strong and athletic wing, and she can defend most '2s', even some smaller PGs, as well as wings and forwards. Offensively, she is more of a driver/attacker right now than anything, but she will also come up with "scraps" baskets on offensive rebounds or cutting off of others' penetration.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='369832' first='Becca' last='Gerdt'], 2024, 5-11 W, Valparaiso H.S.</strong><br>- Becca hasn't been a big grassroots kid, but she has noticeable talent and upside to her game. She is extremely long, wiry-strong, and possibly still growing. She has a couple of older sisters over the 6-foot mark. Becca also plays with great versatility. Offensively, she is a fluid slasher who can get to the basket, but she also has some touch around the perimeter and a nice mid-post game. Defensively, she is very active in their 3/4-court 1-3-1, and she uses her length well to get a number of deflections and steals. She is a bit of a sleeper right now.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='324077' first='Gracie' last='Little'], 2025, 5-7 G, Washington Township H.S.</strong><br>- From last year to this, the most notable thing for me about Gracie is that she looks a little taller, noticeably stronger, and much more confident. She had a great Freshmen season and put up good numbers for Washington Township. She has really nice length, some speed and quickness, but also a little shiftiness in her game. She can handle and run offense from time to time, but she's such a natural shooter/scorer from all over the floor, that you want to get her looks. She has also improved defensively, and that will be key moving forward.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Additional Northwest Indiana Prospects in Our Rankings for 2023-2025:</strong><br>[player_tooltip player_id='127214' first='Tori' last='Allen'], 2023, Andrean H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='178238' first='Skylar' last='Bos'], 2023, DeMotte Christian School<br>[player_tooltip player_id='241188' first='Kristin' last='Bukata'], 2023, Valparaiso H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='96074' first='Allison' last='Capouch'], 2023, Kouts H.S., <em>committed to Trine</em><br>[player_tooltip player_id='96075' first='Exsencia' last='Cloma'], 2023, Gary West Side Leadership Academy<br>[player_tooltip player_id='300077' first='Lauren' last='Colon'], 2023, Andrean H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='203661' first='Anjelicia' last='Del Valle'], 2023, Portage H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='300069' first='Victoria' last='Detraz'], 2023, Morgan Township H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='303460' first='Eva' last='Dodds'], 2023, New Prairie H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='96078' first='Asia' last='Donald'], 2023, Hobart H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='300071' first='Sophia' last='Frasure'], 2023, North Judson-San Pierre H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='127223' first='Nasiya' last='Gause'], 2023, Lake Station Edison H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='372356' first='Lauren' last='Koedyker'], 2023, Kouts H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='372345' first='Brooke' last='Lindesmith'], 2023, Crown Point H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='203664' first='Olivia' last='Marks'], 2023, South Central H.S. (Union Mills), <em>committed to Trine</em><br>[player_tooltip player_id='241195' first='Jaci' last='Menard'], 2023, Boone Grove H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='372360' first='Emily' last='Phillips'], 2023, Crown Point H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='460841' first='Payton' last='Reid'], 2023, Highland H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='460825' first='Lila' last='Sirko'], 2023, La Lumiere Preparatory<br>[player_tooltip player_id='372346' first='Kate' last='Thomas'], 2023, Kankakee Valley H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='96093' first='Lilly' last='Toppen'], 2023, Kankakee Valley H.S.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='176406' first='Aniyah' last='Bishop'], 2024, Lake Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='177310' first='Kennedy' last='Blakely'], 2024, Bishop Noll Institute<br>[player_tooltip player_id='331801' first='Kennedie' last='Burks'], 2024, Lake Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='326487' first='Jayden' last='Flagg'], 2024, New Prairie H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='331778' first='Shena' last='Fleming'], 2024, La Lumiere Preparatory<br>[player_tooltip player_id='455931' first='Faith' last='Harrison'], 2024, Lake Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='201874' first='Genna' last='Hayes'], 2024, Kankakee Valley H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='326478' first='Peyton' last='Honchar'], 2024, Morgan Township H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='455941' first='Aniah' last='Lewis'], 2024, Lake Station Edison H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='201877' first='Sadie' last='Marks'], 2024, South Central H.S. (Union Mills)<br>[player_tooltip player_id='201878' first='Riley' last='Milausnic'], 2024, Lake Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='177345' first='Nevaeh' last='Mosley'], 2024, Lake Station Edison H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='455944' first='Maddy' last='Murray'], 2024, Kankakee Valley H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='369837' first='Makenna' last='Schleman'], 2024, Rensselaer Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='455930' first='Miya' last='Simmons'], 2024, La Lumiere Preparatory<br>[player_tooltip player_id='331818' first='Morgan' last='White'], 2024, New Prairie H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='326491' first='Kayla' last='Wilkerson'], 2024, Lake Station Edison H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='298252' first='Ava' last='Ziolkowski'], 2024, Crown Point H.S.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='295810' first='Lindsay' last='Arcella'], 2025, Andrean H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='331799' first='Jiselle' last='Chabes'], 2025, Marquette Catholic H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='324068' first='Ava' last='Dase'], 2025, Kankakee Valley H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='453224' first='Carly' last='Drone'], 2025, Rensselaer Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='295811' first='Ayla' last='Krygier'], 2025, Lake Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='324076' first='Bryn' last='Leonard'], 2025, Lake Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='324083' first='Natalie' last='Robinson'], 2025, Marquette Catholic H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='295773' first='Isabella' last='Soria'], 2025, Lake Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='295775' first='Icesis' last='Thomas'], 2025, Bishop Noll Institute<br>[player_tooltip player_id='295796' first='Taylor' last='VanMeter'], 2025, Rensselaer Central H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='366805' first='Kylie' last='Wells'], 2025, Merrillville H.S.<br>[player_tooltip player_id='295781' first='Vanessa' last='Wimberly'], 2025, Lake Central H.S.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->