By RICHIE HALL
The University girls basketball team is back in a familiar place: The semi-state level of the IHSAA tournament.
The Trailblazers claimed their second regional championship in three years last Saturday when they triumphed at the Class 2A Southmont regional, beating two ranked teams, No. 5 Triton Central and No. 9 South Putnam, for the title. That gave University a ticket to the south semi-state, where it will play No. 1 Linton-Stockton at 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Jasper.
The ‘Blazers have built a winning tradition in a short amount of time. University’s latest regional championship was the fourth for the school. The Trailblazers played their first post-season tournament in 2006, then made it to the 1A state championship game just two years later in 2008. University followed that up with a regional title in 2009.
“For me personally, it starts with the support of our administration and athletic department,” said ‘Blazers coach Justin Blanding. “They are all very supportive and involved. Former Head of School Chuck Webster trusted me to run this program and make it about academics, athletics, and relationships. You don’t get that everywhere. Many places it is just about athletics and nothing else, but not here.
“I think the tradition starts with the coaches and players from the past who still stay in touch with our current kids. I talk all the time with Stacey Summit-Mann and Paul Gianakos who won sectionals and regional titles here. The alumni all come back and want to give back to the program. They are proud of this program and our kids feel that. That is when you know you have developed a great culture, and winning definitely helps.”
University’s post-season run has been made more remarkable because prior to their first sectional game on Feb. 5, the Trailblazers had not played in almost three weeks. University had to suspend its season twice, first for nearly a month after a Dec. 19 game with Cascade.
University came back on Jan. 14 by playing Indianapolis HomeSchool, then dropped the Pioneer Conference championship game at Greenwood Christian on Jan. 16. The ‘Blazers had to suspend their season again following the PAAC final.
But once back on the court, University has been unstoppable. The Trailblazers won the Cascade sectional with easy victories over Western Boone and Covenant Christian. Then came the regional, where University was unranked, but defeated two ranked teams for the trophy.
Myself personally, I have never paid attention to rankings or anything like that,” said Blanding. “If I did, we wouldn’t win because we have been predicted to lose so many games in my career so far. We really just try and focus on us and we are always humble and honest about who we are. I will be the first person to tell my team they are not as good as the ranking says or vice versa. I think at the start of the season we were in the Fab 15 and I laughed and tweeted the guy he was not close on his prediction of where we were. We just focus on us and go from there. I don’t really pay attention to them and neither do the kids.”
Everyone is paying attention to the Trailblazers now as they prepare for their game with Linton-Stockton. The Miners have been on an incredible run over the past four years, with at least 20 wins in each of those seasons.
Last year, Linton-Stockton went 25-2 and won the Class 2A state title, a 70-28 blowout of Frankton. The Miners are 25-1 this year, with their only loss coming on Dec. 22 to Bedford North Lawrence, a 4A team that reached the regional final at Decatur Central last week.
Linton has won all of its post-season games by at least 20 points. In the North Knox sectional, the Miners breezed past Mitchell 54-28, Vincennes Rivet 56-24 and North Knox 67-37. That qualified L-S for the Crawford County regional, where it put on a defensive show with victories over Forest Park 51-26 in the semi-final and Eastern Pekin 46-24 in the championship. Because of that win, the Miners will move up to 3A next season due to the IHSAA’s success factor.
Three players scored in double figures for Linton in the regional championship game. Vanessa Shafford scored 14 points, while Aubrey Burgess had 11 points, following up on the 20 points she scored in the Miners’ semi-final contest. Both Shafford and Burgess have signed to play Division II basketball at the University of Southern Indiana. Gentry Warrick scored 10 points; she is committed to play Division I volleyball at Miami University of Ohio.
“We will just need to stay focused on what we do and not worry as much about what they do,” said Blanding. “They are a great basketball team. They are very well-coached and disciplined. Also, when you have that kind of talent you have something special.”
The Trailblazers have some special talent as well. Sophomore Kelsey DuBois is averaging a double-double for the season, with 16.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. Senior Sierra Hinds contributes 14.5 points per contest, while sophomore Payton Seay adds 14.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
The ‘Blazers and the Miners will play after the 1A south game between Greenwood Christian and Loogootee, which tips off at 1 p.m., giving the PAAC two teams in the semi-state. The winner of the University-Linton 2A game will play either Tipton or North Judson; those teams face off in the 2A north semi-state, which tips off at 4 p.m. at Logansport.
