Mia Leon-Carpenter is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mesquite High School for AZPreps365.com

Mesquite High School’s boys basketball team wants to defend its Arizona Interscholastic Association 4A State Title. Its only problem is, half of its championship roster graduated.

Nine of last year’s 16-man roster were seniors. This season, only six of those players will be returning on a roster of now 15 players.

“We have talented kids in our program, but we don’t have the experience coming in that we had last year,” Mesquite head coach Shawn Lynch said. “So this is an opportunity for some of our JV kids from last year, some of our younger players, to find spots in the rotation, and be able to contribute.”

One challenge that they may have to overcome is finding high scorers in the underclassmen, as the class of 2022 combined for nearly 70 percent of the 2,240 total points scored last season, according to MaxPreps statistics. One player in particular that the Wildcats seek to replace is guard Nate Calmese, who was responsible for 784 of those points alone.

The third-year head coach said that it was last year’s talent that made them so dominant in their conference.

“With the exception of Kayson Bryant, it was basically the same group, who the year before, had made it to the quarterfinals of the state tournament,” Lynch said. “So, it was a very experienced group, and very talented.”

Cohen J Gonzales will be returning for his final year. The three-year starter has been previously selected twice to be on the All-4A First Team, and was the 4A Offensive Player of the Year in his sophomore campaign.

Mesquite’s senior guard said that the team’s most important task will be to build up the same chemistry from the previous seasons, something that he said has already been progressing since tryouts.

“This year, I think we’re just improving on communication,” Gonzales said. “Because, like I said, we’re a lot younger this year, and we need that leadership to be there. It’s more about the younger guys, and that will be the best for us.”

Junior guard Jaylen Wollangk said he thinks that the first-time varsity players will settle in once the season gets started, but staying together will be the team’s top priority.

“Through the tough times of people not being here, we’ve just got to know how to stay together, play together, and we’ll be fine and have success,” Wollangk said.

Aside from new personnel, Lynch and his squad plan on playing the same way that made them a champion team.

“I think just because we’re younger and we lost a lot of guys, no one thinks that we’ll be the team like we were last year,” Gonzales said. “But we’re still a really tough squad and people need to watch out for us.”

Mesquite’s season began Nov. 21 at the Fear the Hop Thanksgiving Tournament in Mesa. The team fell to Basha High School Nov. 29 and beat American Leadership Academy and Flagstaff Nov 30 and Dec. 2, respectively. It next faces Eastmark on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.