Team bus overturns; coach airlifted to hospital

Associated Press

DEMOTTE, Ind.

A northwest Indiana high-school basketball coach was airlifted to a hospital Saturday after a driver who spilled her drink sideswiped a bus carrying 27 players and staff, causing it to overturn on an interstate.

The Griffith High School boys basketball team was traveling to a state semifinal game in Lafayette when the rollover occurred about 12:30 p.m. on Interstate 65 near DeMotte, authorities said. The bus landed on the side of the roadway with part of its roof smashed in.

Superintendent Peter Morikis said “several” players and coaches were injured. He said everyone on the bus was taken to one of three hospitals.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Ann Wojas said no injuries were life-threatening.

Morikis said freshman coach David Garrett was airlifted to Christ Advocate Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill. Morikis didn’t describe his injuries.

“Our hearts are heavy today,” he said. “What began with excitement – as the fulfillment of a dream to play in the semi-state tournament – has ended tragically. We are praying today for the members of our Griffith school family, who have been injured.”