Bricker tops Indiana AP all-state girls basketball first team
Indiana’s senior class swallowed the AP ballot, with Joslyn Bricker topping Gracyn Gilliard as Warsaw and Center Grove loaded the first-team spotlight.
Indiana girls basketball’s senior class took over the AP all-state ballot, claiming the top 12 spots and turning the honor list into a statewide snapshot of where the elite talent sits going into the next season. The Associated Press teams were chosen by writers, broadcasters and coaches from across Indiana, with three five-player teams, 25 high honorable mention players and 88 more honorable mention selections.
Warsaw senior Joslyn Bricker led the way with the highest vote total, after averaging 24.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists while guiding the Tigers to a 24-3 finish after last season’s run to the Class 4A state title game. Bricker, an Indiana Wesleyan commit, finished ahead of Gracyn Gilliard, the Indiana Miss Basketball winner from Center Grove, giving the first team a clear top-end jolt. Gilliard helped lead the Class 4A champion Trojans and will play at Davidson, while the rest of the first team included Norwell senior Vanessa Rosswurm, Lawrence Central senior Lola Lampley and Valparaiso senior Lilli Barnes. Rosswurm is headed to Indiana Wesleyan, Lampley to LSU and Barnes to Ball State, a sign that the top tier of Indiana talent is spreading well beyond the state border.
The second team reinforced that depth. Homestead senior Myah Epps returned as a second-team pick after earning the same honor a year ago, and the Louisville recruit is recovering after a March 13 automobile accident left her with two spinal fractures. She underwent surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. Lapel senior Laniah Wills will play at Butler, Jennings County senior Mollie Ernstes and Silver Creek senior Brooklynn Renn are both bound for Kansas, and Hamilton Southeastern senior Kennedy Holman will continue at Oregon.
Warsaw added a second all-stater when Brooke Zartman made the third team, joining Evansville Central senior Madalynn Shirley, Northridge junior Lily Scholl, McCutcheon junior Lillie Graves and Hammond Morton junior Kylah Patterson. Shirley, another repeat AP selection, will stay close to home at Southern Indiana, and Zartman will head to Miami (Ohio). The only underclass names on the three all-state teams were Scholl, Graves and Patterson, a sharp reminder of how senior-heavy the state was at the top.
The honor roll also stretched deep into Hancock County. Eastern Hancock junior Kenzie Koch landed high honorable mention after averaging 25.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.4 steals per game, ranking 10th in Indiana in scoring, 19th in steals and 25th in assists while finishing third in the state with 241 field goals made. Koch also became the first player in Eastern Hancock history to earn Indiana Junior All-Star status and had already been named to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association all-state teams. Mt. Vernon sophomore Zoey Wood earned honorable mention with 17.5 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 43 made 3-pointers, a line that put her 15th in Class 4A scoring and kept Hancock County on the statewide map.
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