No matter who came out on top of Saturday’s 2A boys basketball state championship between Manchester and University, history was going to be made.

When the final buzzer sounded, it was the fans who made the trip from North Manchester celebrating it. 

In a game that featured eleven lead changes, 10 ties and not a single lead of over eight, it was the Squires who outlasted the Trailblazers 59-54 to capture the first basketball state title in school history, and the second overall. 

    Players cheer as the state tournament trophy is held high after the game...Nieter

“I’m so thrilled for these guys. They never backed down. What a feeling. I’m so happy for our community and our school, but most of all our players,” head coach Eli Henson said moments after the game. “I never got to experience a long postseason run as a player, for them to get to do that this year, it’s been more amazing than I could ever imagine. It’s unbelievable.” 

Gavin Betten, who stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, was extremely emotional after winning the elusive title.

“It was my last high school game, and I’m feeling blessed,” Betten said. “I’m so appreciative of Coach Henson, there’s no other coach I’d rather play for. It’s a dream come true to win a state championship, it’s something that every kid dreams of.” 

    Senior Gavin Betten extendes past the defense of University's Cooper Cammack to score during the second half...Nieter

With an average margin of victory of over 23 this season, the Manchester boys basketball team hasn’t had to sweat out too many close games. The playoffs have been a different story, as Saturday’s state championship game was the third in a row decided by five points or less. 

“As a team, we’re extremely strong mentally, we’re really calm in those tense situations,” Ethan Hendrix said. “We knew this was going to be a game of runs so we never got too high or low, we just kept on pushing.” 

Hendrix was just as good as his wingman in the championship game, also scoring 21 points, including five huge ones at the free throw line in the final minute that helped put the game away for good.

    Senior Ethan Hendrix battles his way to the basket against Faisal Mohamud of University during the first half...Nieter

University was able to stick around for the first 31 minutes largely in part to their incredible three-point shooting. The Trailblazers went 10-21 from three in the game, hitting five of those in the fourth quarter. But while the school from Carmel dominated the perimeter, the Squires enjoyed successes of their own, outscoring their opponent 30-10 in the paint. 

“They were so hard to slow down. We went to man defense and they’d hit a three. We’d switch back to zone and they’d hit a three,” Henson said. “But I thought we did a great job staying with it, staying patient. That’s where we’re most comfortable is getting to the rim.” 

The championship for Manchester is not only the first in school history, but also the first in the history of Wabash County. 

“Basketball means so much to everyone in this area. To be the first ones to win a championship, that’s going to give us some bragging rights for sure,” Hendrix said with a smile.

The state championship trophy wasn’t the only piece of hardware the team took home on Saturday. Senior Kaleb Kline, who has played the entire season on a torn ACL he suffered during the first week of football season, was honored with the Arthur L. Trester and Ray Craft Mental Attitude Award. 

    Manchester senior Kaleb Kline poses with his parents after accepting the Arthur L. Trester and Ray Craft Mental Attitude Award...Nieter

“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to play, for my teammates and my coaches for pushing me,” Kline said. “It hasn’t all sunk in yet but this is the best day of my life.” 

Henson spared no words when describing what Kline meant to the team this season. 

“He’s the toughest player I’ve ever coached. He started 22 games for us on a torn ACL,” he said. “He deserved that award.” 

As for the game itself, it was a doozy.

The Trailblazers showed their ability to generate offense from both the perimeter and the interior on their first two possessions, scoring a quick five points. Those were matched on the other end by the Squires, leading to a 5-5 tie four minutes into the game. 

Manchester took its first lead a few moments later on a triple by Ethan Hendrix, but it was quickly matched on the other end. After a high-scoring first few minutes, things cooled down for the next couple, as the two sides reached the media timeout with two minutes left in the first tied at eight. 

The Squires would go nearly two more minutes before Tallon Torpy’s first bucket of the game put them back on the scoreboard. University was able to score three points during that stretch, allowing the Trailblazers to take an 11-10 lead into the second quarter. 

    Senior Tallon Torpy asgressively drives to the basket during the second half...Nieter

The offensive struggles for Manchester bled into the second, as the team went nearly three minutes before Ethan Hendrix tied the game up at 12. The good news for the visitors was that their defensive intensity was keeping them in the game, holding University without a field goal during that stretch. A layup by Betten, who had struggled to get going early on, gave the Squires another short lived lead. 

Both defenses continued to be the story as the second quarter’s media timeout was reached, as the Trailblazers held a slim 15-14 lead. Each side was having little problem generating turnovers on one end, but turning those turnovers into points on the other was a different story. 

A three by Wyatt Prater briefly allowed Manchester to go up by four, the largest lead of the game for either team thus far. The team was up three in the final seconds before the half until University’s leading scorer Max McComb added his first points of the night to tie things up at 21 going into the break. 

    Senior Carter Wagoner receives his championship medal during the post-game awards ceremony...Nieter

The margins remained razor thin in the opening minutes of the third quarter, as the contest saw two more lead changes in the first two minutes. Betten seemed to have settled in, scoring five     quick points to help his team go back up by four. He’d score seven of the first nine points the Squires put on the board in the first four minutes of the period. 

A midrange jumper for Hendrix extended the Squire lead to six, its largest thus far, with a little under two minutes to go in the third. After shooting just 36% in the first half, a hot quarter had boosted that percentage all the way up to 48% for Manchester with around 10 minutes to go in the game. Hendrix would join his fellow Grace commit Betten in double figures on the next possession. 

    Ethan Hendrix, Coach Eli Henson and Gavin Betten address the media after the game...Nieter

He didn’t stop there. He hit a triple in the final seconds of the third to give him seven straight points for Manchester while also extending the lead to eight. But, as was the case with the end of the second quarter, McComb was able to sink a triple of his own at the buzzer to make it a five-point game with eight minutes to go. 

That lead didn’t last very long, as within 90 seconds of the fourth quarter starting, the Trailblazers had tied things up. Betten, who had been facilitating a bit more after his hot start to the third, got back on the board and helped Manchester retake the lead seconds later. 

    Senior Wyatt Prater leaves the court on his way to the locker room with championship hardware following him...Nieter
 

Things continued to go back and forth, and with five minutes left in the game, we were tied yet again. McComb was beginning to take over the game himself, scoring his 10th point of the second half to even things up, and adding three more to put University back in front. The offense continued to flow for both sides as Kaleb Kline quickly answered with a triple of his own to tie things up at 46 all with four minutes to go. 

“I knew I was going to hit a big shot today,” Kline said. “I just stayed patient and when my moment came, I took advantage of it.” 

    Senior Kaleb Kline scores from under the basket during the second half...Nieter

University’s 10th three of the afternoon allowed them to retake the lead following the media timeout. They remained on top until the 2:15 mark, when a layup by Hendrix put Manchester back in front. The game saw yet another lead change with 1:44 to go, as a pair of free throws by University made it a one-point game in favor of the Trailblazers. 

With a little over a minute to go, Betten hit a huge contested layup to put the Squires in the lead, but was unable to convert the and-one at the line. A miss by McComb at the other end gave the ball back to Manchester with less than a minute to go, and after being fouled, Hendrix made two free throws to make it a three-point game. 

Another miss by University put Hendrix back at the line, where he calmly hit two more with 30 seconds left. Ten seconds later, he’d split a pai9r to make it a six point game. On the next possession, Aaron Reid put the game on ice with a massive steal and score to make it an eight point game with less than 15 seconds left. 

    Junior Aaron Reid focuses on a jump shot during the first half...Nieter

“Those plays by Aaron and Kaleb were the difference for us tonight. My dad even told me before the game that we were going to have some guys step up that don’t always make the biggest difference,” Henson said. “Ultimately, those plays ended up putting us over the edge.”