It’s been a whirlwind of a March for the Manchester boys basketball team, as the Squires have spent the last few weeks rewriting history. First, the team captured its first sectional title in 30 years. A week later, it was the team’s first regional championship in 31. Now, the Squires are two wins away from capturing their first ever semi-state title and advancing to where no Manchester team ever has: the state finals.
“The last few weeks have been unbelievable for this team, school and our community. It is an experience that these guys have never experienced before and you can see how much it means to them every day,” Manchester head coach Eli Henson said. “Even with winning sectionals and regionals our guys are still focused on the next task and that’s to prepare to win a semi-state title.”
Winning the semi-state will be the team’s biggest challenge yet, as the No. 3 Squires (23-2) enter a loaded field. Joining them in Michigan City is No. 1 Wapahani (26-1), No. 6 Gary 21st Century (20-6) and upstart Jimtown (16-10). While the Jimmies don’t have the best record out of the four teams, they’re playing their best basketball under the brightest lights.
They’re also the team that the Squires drew to play in the first round on Saturday. While No. 1 and No. 6 face off in the early game, Manchester will have their hands full with a team with nothing to lose and everything to prove.
“Jimtown has a very good team with a lot of size that can cause us problems. They rebound well and defend very well. The way they have played the last two weeks has been very impressive and they are doing it with their defense and strong interior play on offense,” Henson said. “They will be a major challenge for us but at this point every team is going to be a major challenge. We have to find a way to speed them up and hopefully we can get back to forcing double digit turnovers which has helped us win a lot of games this season.”
Jimtown has two players averaging double figures scoring, with their leader being center Branden King and his 17.4 points a game. The 6’7”senior also averages 8.8 rebounds a game and blocks 1.3 shots. Dylan Fey averages 11.1 a night. Javen Jackson leads the team in assists (3.0), while Will Spurgeon is first in steals (2.0), providing a very balanced leaderboard.
In terms of relying on the defense to get the job done, Henson is right. In the playoffs, the most points Manchester has given up is 46 to Rochester in the opening game. They’ve proceeded to give up less in each of the next two. Along with that defensive intensity, the Manchester head coach also credits his seniors as major factors to his team’s success.
“That experience that they bring has really helped us in the postseason. We’ve done a great job setting the tone early and jumping out to an early lead in the first quarter. That is something that is going to continue to be a key this weekend,” he said. “Get to the rim early and continue to have high intensity on defense. We have to use what’s got us this far to continue being successful.”
Those seniors, notably Grace commit Gavin Betten and guard Ethan Hendrix, have been fantastic all season long. However, there’s a third member of that group, Tallon Torpy, who is picking up the pace as an extremely reliable third option. Torpy poured in a career-high 18 points in the regional win over Tipton and was a major factor in that victory.
“When Tallon starts games the way he did last week, we are very difficult to guard. He did such a good job of being aggressive and had a huge impact on that game,” Henson said. “In my mind, we are almost unbeatable at the 2A level when all three of our top scorers are on. What we need is someone outside of those three to hit some perimeter shots this weekend. That would make us almost impossible to guard.
Jimtown is not the only team the Squires will have to get past if they want to cut down some more nets and play for a state title. The first game of the day between Wapahani and Gary 21st Century will be a doozy, providing a massive challenge no matter who comes out on top. While the No. 1 Raiders come in with the top ranking in 2A, it’s Gary that many believe is the favorite. The Cougars have won their last seven games, each by double digits. On the other end, Wapahani has won 12 in a row, with the only loss this season coming to New Castle.
“Wapahani and Gary 21st are completely different teams from Jimtown and all three have different styles of play. We are primarily focused in practice on just Jimtown but we are still implementing things we will do against the other two teams as well. Gary 21st is playing better than anyone in 2A right now and Wapahani has been No. 1 for most of the season and is one of the better shooting teams I’ve seen,” Henson said. “All three teams will be a challenge and all do so many things well on both ends of the floor. It’s a tough week of preparation but as the week continues I feel like we are prepared for anything.”
Manchester and Jimtown will play in the second game on Saturday morning at noon local (1 p.m. ET). With a win, they will play in a 7:30 p.m. championship game (8:30 ET).