Welker's last-second putback lifts Homestead over Pike, draws offers
Welker’s tip-in beat Pike by one, then his 22-point weekend brought Wright State and Eastern Michigan into the picture. Homestead also pushed Fishers to overtime after building a double-digit lead.
Mack Welker’s last-second putback lifted Homestead past Pike 57-56 and capped the kind of weekend that turns a July-caliber showcase into a recruiting surge. The 6-foot-? senior big man scored 22 points in the win, then left Day 2 with new offers from Wright State and Eastern Michigan to go with Ball State, Central Michigan, Oral Roberts and Purdue Fort Wayne.
Homestead did not coast after that. The Spartans built a double-digit lead against Fishers before falling 69-66 in overtime, a result that said as much about their ceiling as the opener did. Junior Bryce LaCross, who transferred in from Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, scored 30 points and grabbed six rebounds in the loss, giving Homestead another scorer who could carry a heavy load when Welker drew attention inside.
That split result fit the point of the Charlie Hughes Shootout better than a clean sweep would have. The event has become one of Indiana’s biggest summer measuring sticks, with 169 teams playing 311 games over three days in the 2024 edition and 160 teams in the 2023 field, when admission was $10 per day. It runs during a live college-coach evaluation window, which is why one strong day can change a player’s phone almost immediately.
Welker already had a statewide résumé before this weekend. In February, he helped Homestead knock off then-Class 2A No. 1 Oak Hill 58-53, and a June 2, 2025 photo from the IBCA Futures game showed him in Indiana North colors, long before this weekend’s putback became the latest line on his scouting report. What changed on Day 2 was the level of outside attention attached to the production.
The rest of the showcase backed up the same theme: the players who matter in winter often look obvious in June. Merrillville freshman Nasir Faniel, a 6-5 guard who can handle the ball, scored 20 points in a win over West Lafayette Harrison, and junior guard Charles Hardimon added 29 for Merrillville. Bloomington North senior Levi Lindeman scored 21 in a loss to Penn, while Sheridan senior Trey Page had one of the loudest scoring nights of the day, pouring in 37 points with seven made threes in an 80-62 win over Heritage Christian.
Day 2 did not just reward hot streaks. It separated the teams and players whose production held up across multiple games, and Homestead’s weekend, even in a split, looked built on the kinds of pieces that usually travel into the winter: Welker’s size and finishing, LaCross’s shot creation and a roster that kept showing it could play with almost anybody in Indiana.
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