Cathedral Holds Off New Haven 71-61 to Claim 3A State Title

Julien Smith poured in 21 points and hauled down nine rebounds as Indianapolis Cathedral held off New Haven 71-61 Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, claiming the 2026 IHSAA Class 3A boys basketball state championship in a grinding, attritional final that came down to free throws and depth.

The Fighting Irish, who finished 25-5, built an early cushion and then leaned on their front line and guard balance to absorb every New Haven run. The Bulldogs, playing in the first state final appearance in program history, finished 22-8 and pushed Cathedral through four competitive quarters before the Fighting Irish pulled away for good in the closing minutes.

New Haven's offense had no reliable answer from distance. The Bulldogs went 3-of-19 from three-point range, a 16% clip that eliminated any realistic path to erasing a fourth-quarter deficit. Against a Cathedral defense designed to funnel opponents into exactly those long, contested attempts, that shooting performance proved fatal.

Tarvar Baskerville refused to let New Haven go quietly. The Bulldogs' leading scorer finished with 20 points and five steals, a two-way effort that captured how competitive this matchup was for three-plus quarters. Jadrien Ezell added 15 points for New Haven, giving the program two double-digit scorers in its biggest game ever. The Bulldogs earned widespread praise for their physicality and postseason determination, and individual honors followed several New Haven players out of the tournament.

Cathedral sealed it at the free-throw line. The Fighting Irish converted in the clutch, protected the ball in the final minutes, and outscored New Haven in the fourth quarter to close out a championship built on program depth and pressure-defense discipline across the full postseason.

Smith's 21-point, nine-rebound anchor performance gave Cathedral exactly what a state final demands: a player who could control the game's physical terms when the Bulldogs made their pushes. The 3A title is the reward for a 25-win season that rarely let opponents dictate terms, and New Haven's historic run makes the opponent Cathedral beat that much more meaningful.