By Lewis Bagley, Special to IHSAA.org
You’ll have to forgive the members of each team in the Class 2A state championship game for perhaps being a bit overcome by their surroundings when they take the floor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
For both Manchester and University, post-season success has been elusive.
University, in fact, won its first-ever sectional this season to begin its run to the championship game, while the Squires haven’t advanced past the sectional since 1995 – meaning 2025 marks the first sectional title during the class-sports era.
“It’s going to be exciting coming into an NBA arena,” University senior Blake Gray said. “I’m probably going to be a little nervous.”
Yet, despite the dearth of post-season success, either the Trailblazers (20-9) or Manchester (25-2) will take home their school’s first-ever state basketball title.
“This is new for all of us,” Manchester coach Eli Henson said. “We’ve tried to take it step-by-step this season and the excitement has built to an unbelievable level since we won our sectional.”
The fourth-ranked Squires were bolstered by a 17-game winning streak that was snapped by Maconaquah on Feb. 21. Since then, Manchester has won 9 of 10 games.
It was the first loss Manchester suffered — a 71-48 setback to Class 4A power Homestead in game two – that proved a turning point.
“We had won 18 games each of the previous two seasons,” Henson pointed out, “so we had big goals this season. With that Homestead game, we learned that we weren’t as good as we thought. We watched that game film over and over and saw our intensity level had to pick up.”
The Squires have a lot of confidence in 6-6 senior Gavin Betten. The Grace College-recruit will close out a banner career in the title game in which he has amassed over 2,200 points and 1,000 rebounds. This season, Betten averages 25.6 points and 12 boards a contest.
“Gavin has been a once-in-a-lifetime player for Manchester,” Henson said. “He’s a very disciplined player, who has been very unselfish.”
Point guard Ethan Hendrix, also a Grace recruit, comes in with an 18-point average, while senior Talon Torpy sports a 9.4 average.
“We have seven seniors, and this team is very close,” Henson said. “It’s been a different feel with this group this year that has built a lot of confidence.”
The Squires will need that confidence when they take on a Trailblazers squad that may be coming in unranked but is a very confident crew themselves. After starting the season 2-5, coach Justin Blanding’s squad has run off 18 wins in 22 games.
“We didn’t look at it as a tough start for us,” Blanding said. “We played some good teams, and we scheduled it that way. We got better every game, especially defensively, and we’ve been on a run from there.”
Senior guard Max McComb leads the University attack with a 15.1-point average, while Gray, a junior, averages 11.6 points.
“We’re a balanced team with guys who can do a lot of things,” Blanding said. “We can adjust to any style of play that’s in front of us. We work hard, defensively, and that will be a big factor for us.
“Manchester is a very well-coached team and their record is great, but it says more than that about them,” Blanding said in praise of the Squires. “For us, it’s about us being who we are. We are in for dogfight, but we will be ready.”
“It’s big for us to get them to play our style,” Henson said. “We have to push the ball and get out in transition, and we must out-rebound them.”
While the winner will take home their school’s first basketball title, both schools have won baseball championships – University claimed the 1A title in 2019, while Manchester won the 3A title in 2002.
If University is successful, it would tie a state record for most losses by a state champ. Five other schools won a title with nine losses – the last being Fort Wayne Canterbury (19-9) in Class 1A a year ago.