On Saturday, March 29, the 2025 IHSAA boys basketball state finals will take place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. At 12:45 (or so), Northeast Indiana’s only state finalist will take the court as the Manchester Squires will do battle with University.
Manchester comes into the game at 25-2, last losing on February 21 in overtime against Maconaquah. University enters the game at 20-9 overall, with their last defeat coming February 25th against Guerin Catholic. The University Trailblazers ride a seven game win streak into the Class 2A finals, while Manchester are winners of their last seven as well.
POSTSEASON & OTHER HISTORY
These two teams do not have history against each other and not much history in the postseason to speak of in general. Neither Manchester or University has ever played in a state finals games for boys basketball.
Manchester is led by Eli Henson, who is in his 5th year with the school and 14th overall. University’s head man is Justin Blanding, who is in his second year as a head coach, both coming for the Trailblazers. This is Henson’s second postseason championship team of his career, last capturing a title (Sectional) in 2014 coaching North White. This is Blanding’s first time coaching a postseason championship program on the boys side. It is worth noting that he led the University girls program for eight seasons and before that was an assistant for the Trailblazer boys for four years.
When it comes to the postseason, University has only ever made it past the Regional round one other time, winning that title in 2013. Manchester made their second ever semi state appearance last weekend as well, the first time since 1994. The Squires hold the edge in all time Sectional titles won with 13, though they had not done so since 1995 before this season; the first Manchester Sectional title came in 1960. University has won 6 Sectional titles, all coming since 2006.
SIZING UP MANCHESTER
Gavin Betten is Manchester’s go to player, a difficult matchup at 6-foot-7. Per MaxPreps, Betten has hit the 5th most free throws in the state this season at 153 and sits third in rebounds per game in Indiana with 12; a total of 325 rebounds. He is the top scorer and rebounder in Class 2A. He averages 25.6 points and 3 blocks per contest. Betten has 2,115 career points, five points shy of joining Indiana’s all-time Top 50 scorers. Should he make it in Saturday’s 2A state final, he would join three others who played this season — Braylon Mullins of Greenfield-Central, Josiah Ball of Maconaquah, and Chase Konieczny of St. Joseph.
Ethan Hendrix hit a big, final seconds three pointer last Saturday in the semi state morning game to keep Manchester alive. The senior guard is averaging 17.9 points, 4.2 assists and 3.1 steals per game this season.
Third and fourth in line for the Squires are also seniors with Tallon Torpy and Kaleb Kline. Torpy averages 9.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while Kline adds in 4.6 points per contest. Torpy scored a season high 21 points in Manchester’s loss to Maconaquah, but has been in double figures scoring 13 times over 27 games, including a five game stretch from December 17-January 3. Kline saw his best game in a December 27 win over Northfield, where he scored 17 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting effort from the field, including 5-of-5 from three point range.
Juniors Aaron Reid and Dallas Martin have also seen time in all 27 games, rounding out the key members of Manchester’s rotation. Wyatt Prater and Carter Wagoner both made appearances against Jimtown in the semi state morning game, but Manchester played just five guys in the championship game last Saturday, a win over Gary 21st Century.
WHO IS UNIVERSITY
University started the season 3-6 before an eight-game win streak and then finished the regular season at 14-9. Included in that rough stretch to start the season were five straight losses, coming against every single class of team in the state. Since the new calendar year hit, University has three losses, but all coming in lopsided efforts with the closest of those three being a 26-point loss to Guerin Catholic, but University has not lost since that game. Of their nine losses, four have come within five points and University has been to overtime four times this season, going 3-1 in those games.
With a victory, University would tie the state record for most regular season losses by a state champion and the second 2A team to do so.
University goes deeper on their bench than Manchester most of the time. The Trailblazers have eight guys who have played in 25 or more of the team’s 29 games. A ninth player has played in 15, but missed several games earlier in the season.
Leading the Trailblazers is 6-foot-4 senior guard Max McComb at 15.1 points per game, to go along with 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 Assists per game. McComb has had just four single digit games all season, but two of those have come in his past three contests. He scored a season best 22 against Liberty Christian early in the season and shoots 50 percent from the field overall.
Junior Blake Gray is University’s top three point shooter, hitting 51 total triples at a 41 percent success rate this season; he averages 11.6 points and a team best single block per game. Faisal Mohamud is another junior guard who is a big part of University’s offense, averaging 9.8 points per game. Adding to University’s depth is 6-foot-6 sophomore Josh Henderson, who has appeared in 15 games but missed the entire month of January; he averages 7.1 points and had 14 in the semi state title win over Parke Heritage.
The Trailblazers will also go to 6-foot-4 junior Cooper Cammack, who is second tallest player listed on the team. Senior Zien Bland, juniors Noah Cortez and DJ Willis and sophomore Peter Morales have also all appeared in 25 or more games this season.
THE KEY MATCHUP
Going the predictable route isn’t always avoidable. Slowing down Gavin Betten has to be focus number one for University. And while Ethan Hendrix was sensational during the semi state round and can’t be taken lightly at all, there is a storyline to watch with Betten inside and likely matchup with Josh Henderson.
Henderson has the best size to match up with the height, broadness and physicality that Betten can produce and Henderson also has solid mobility to chase Betten around the court if need be.
On the season, Henderson has yet to produce a double digit rebounding game, where as Betten averages 12 per contest. Eight rebounds in a loss to Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter was the best number for Henderson and it makes you think that with their depth, University is going to have to throw a lot of stuff and a few different guys at Betten. 6-foot-4 junior Cooper Cammack is University’s best rebounder at 5.5 per contest, followed by 6-foot-4 senior guard Max McComb and his 4.9 rebounds per game.
Cammack could possibly match up best with Betten physically at 185 pounds to Betten’s 6-foot-7, 211 pound frame. On the season, Cammack has had double digit rebounds four times, pulling down 11 during a semi state round win over Linton-Stockton and a season high 13 in February in a win over Indianapolis Lutheran. On the flip side, Betten has had double digit rebounding 22 times in 27 games; he has surpassed Cammack’s high of 13 on 10 occasions, with a season high of 20 rebounds in a win over Fort Wayne Canterbury.
BOUNCE’S PREDICTION
Manchester has the fifth best margin of victory in the state this season at 23.5 points per game, but last week they were really able to show just how good they can be in close games even if they haven’t had many of them. Against Jimtown, it was the offense thriving with Ethan Hendrix’s triple with 8.5 seconds left. Against Gary 21st Century, Manchester’s defense had to hold to keep them from getting off a quality shot.
University won a hard-fought overtime game with Linton-Stockton on Saturday morning, showcasing how they can handle themselves in close games as well. The unranked Trailblazers held off third-ranked Parke Heritage 53-47 on Saturday night to advance to the state finals.
Both teams are clearly comfortable playing in tight games right now and that is a big part of championship DNA.
With that said, piece by piece, it is hard to see how University will matchup with the Squires. Ethan Hendrix (Manchester) and Max McComb (University) is an intriguing one to follow of some really shifty guards should they match up against each other. The Trailblazers have significantly more depth traditionally, going as many as nine players deep when needed while Manchester only played five guys in their state title appearance clinching win over Gary 21st Century. But when one of those guys is do-it-all Gavin Betten, it is easier to go with a smaller lineup.
In the end, Manchester should have the best two players on the floor on Saturday and that makes a load of difference. BOUNCE PICKS MANCHESTER, 65-55
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