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Nathan Calmese reaches 1000 career points.
Nate Calmese leads
Mesquite on wild ride to the 4A state title with 34 points in win over
Salpointe Catholic
February 28, 2021 By Richard Obert Arizona
Republic
After it ended Monday night, riding the wild wave from St. Mary's to
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Nate Calmese put on a pair of
sunglasses and a chain and held the gold ball over his head, basking in
the afterglow of a state championship.
If the shot heard around the country wasn't enough last week, Calmese's
encore performance might have been even better.
The senior point guard went off for 34 points, 10 rebounds and five
assists, leading Gilbert Mesquite to the 4A boys basketball state
championship with a 64-58 victory over top-seeded Tucson Salpointe
Catholic.
Sixth-seed Mesquite (27-3) knocked off the Nos. 2 and 1 seeds in its last
two games to win its first state championship. Mesquite didn't lose a game
to a 4A team this season.
It was the school's first state final appearance. And they had the right
guy to lead them. Second-year coach Shawn Lynch won a state title as head
coach at Mesa in 2004.
"We knew that this was the best transition team we've seen," Lynch said.
"Honestly, this is the best team we've seen, how they move the ball.
They're extremely difficult to match up with. And they're extremely
difficult to stop in transition."
But Calmese couldn't be denied. Not after his 28 points against St.
Mary's, including the play that made ESPN's SportsCenter No. 1 play of the
day last week when he intercepted a long pass, got the ball back and
swished a shot beyond half court to stun St. Mary's 74-73 at the buzzer.
Mesquite made up six points in the final four seconds just to win by a
point then.
So when Salpointe (26-3) took a 30-24 lead with 4:50 left in the first
half on Brett Rosenblatt's layup, Lynch called a time out. The Wildcats
regrouped and came out on fire.
They closed the half on an 11-6 run with Calmese finding Bryant Kayson in
the corner for a 3 that gave them a 35-34 halftime lead.
They never trailed in the second half, with the 6-foot-1 Calmese scoring
10 points in the third quarter, giving him 30 for the game, as the
Wildcats built a 51-44 lead.
They never trailed in the second half, with the 6-foot-1 Calmese scoring
10 points in the third quarter, giving him 30 for the game, as the
Wildcats built a 51-44 lead.
Mesquite shot 48.1% in the game and held Salpointe to 41.4% after it made
8 of 16 shots in the first quarter and led, 22-20.
CohenJ Gonzales, a talented guard, had 14 points, and put the game on ice
with two free throws with five seconds left. Now CohenJ and his sister
Shaylee can talk about winning state championships. Shaylee Gonzales, now
at BYU, won a state title her junior year with her mom Candice the coach.
"We got back into the flow of practice," Gonzales said about the St.
Mary's semifinal win. "After that game, we knew nothing could stop us."
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Nate Calmese's halfcourt
shot at buzzer lifts Mesquite over St. Mary's in 4A semifinal
February 22, 2021 By Richard Obert Arizona
Republic
Phoenix St. Mary's, its student-section Bleacher Creatures cheering behind
it, erased a 10-point deficit, and seemed to have the game won Tuesday
night, before Nate Calmese made the play of the year.
Or maybe the century.
With St. Mary's Styles Phipps inbounding under the Mesquite basket, his
team ahead by two points with 2.3 seconds left, the sophomore heaved a
long pass in the direction of 6-foot-10 Jeremiah Cherry downcourt.
Calmese intercepted and hit a halfcourt shot as the buzzer, giving
Mesquite an improbable 74-73 victory, as students and Mesquite reserves
stormed the floor to celebrate with Calmese on St. Mary's court.
Mesquite, the No. 6 seed, moves into Monday's 4A championship game against
No. 1 seed Tucson Salpointe Catholic, which defeated Glendale Deer Valley
in the other semifinal Tuesday night.
"I knew it was going in," said Calmese, a senior guard, who came into the
game averaging more than 30 points a game.
But did he get it off in time?
Calmese leaped to get a hand on the deep pass by Phipps. The ball
bounced once to Mesqute's Kayson Bryant. It bounced again to Calmese, who
let it fly with Estrada in front of him.
The buzzer sounded as he released the shot, and the referees counted it.
Bedlam.
It left St. Mary's players laying on the floor, dejected, after coming
back from a 15-point deficit.
"Mesquite played their backsides off and it was quite a game," St. Mary's
coach Damin Lopez said. "From out side, that's obviously a tough pill to
swallow. Seems like that last four seconds was a comedy of errors. Some
things we could control. And some things we couldn't."
How Mesquite snatched victory away from St. Mary's will be talked about
for a long time. The shot playing over and over and over. Did Calmese
still have the ball in his hands with the scoreboard reading :00?
This happened two years ago when Rancho Solano Prep was given a basket to
beat Whiteriver Alchesay in a 2A semifinal at the Coliseum, where a follow
shot was ruled good to give the Scottsdale school a 38-36 victory.
There isn't instant replay in the Arizona Interscholastic Association, and
refs go by the sound of the buzzer at the end of games.
St. Mary's had closed the gap to 54-52, before Mesquite quickly went back
up after two Phipps' turnovers to take a 61-52 lead with less than four
minutes to play.
Then, with Phipps making big defensive plays and passes and baskets, with
Garrison Phelps and Jacob Estrada knocking down big 3s and Cherry
dominating the glass and making defensive stops, the Knights suddenly were
up 68-64 with 51 seconds left.
CoehnJ Gonzales, who had 19 first-half points to give the Wildcats a big
lead, was fouled while making a 3-pointer. He converted a four-point play
for Mesquite to make it a one-point game with 28 seconds left.
After Phipps made free throws, he forced a turnover by Calmese. Mesquite
was close to getting a technical when some Mesquite students, complaining
about the call, spilled over near the floor, as security had to keep them
back in the stands.
Phelps sank a free throw after being fouled. He missed his second but
Estrada rebounded and was fouled. He missed two free throws.
Another Phipps steal put him at the line after being fouled. Phipps made 1
of 2 free throws to give St. Mary's a 73-68 lead with 22.6 seconds left.
Elijah Foster nailed a 3 from the corner to cut the deficit to 73-71 with
2.3 seconds left.
Lopez said he didn't want his team to inbound the ball after the basket,
and to just let the time run out. The refs put 2.3 seconds on the clock.
When the Knights inbounded, Lopez said he was signaling for Phipps to have
someone else inbound the ball.
"It's an unfortunate way to lose," Lopez said. "But at the end of the day
I'm proud of the way our guys fought back on a night when we really
weren't ourselves."
Mesquite's miracle finish had Calmese coming out of the celebration scrum
and running down the court as he was followed by media.
"That's Nate," Mesquite coach Shawn Lynch said. "That's just Nate. Hey,
this is a players' game. Player make plays. What a highlight. Nate makes
an incredible play."
Lynch knew that St. Mary's would come out and pressure like their lives
depended on it in the fourth quarter, when Phipps had 16 points.
"When it gets tough, they get in your grill and they did that to us, and
they shook us a little bit," Lynch said. "Our guys stuck with it. We
hadn't seen team pressure like this all year. I'm proud of our guys."
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Mesquite powers past Peoria inside
February 20, 2021 By Richard Smith
YourValley.net
The 4A basketball quarterfinal duel between Peoria junior guard Andrew
Camacho and Gilbert Mesquite senior guard Nate Calmese was as advertised.
Camacho poured in 31 of the Panthers first half 39 points on the way to a
game high 44. Calmese had 24 points at the break and finished with 37.
Both had the support of 20-plus point nights by backcourt running mates.
However, #6 Mesquite (25-3) seized an early advantage and never let go
thanks to senior forwards Kayson Bryant (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Drew
Owens (16 points, 9 boards),
"They played an amazing game, executed well and hit shot. We did not
execute our game plan," Peoria coach Patrick Battillo said. "Giving up 40
rebounds? That's unacceptable. They had 19 at the half and about 80% of
them were offensive. Every one of those we suffered with a foul or a
basket."
The numbers are not broken down by quarter but the Wildcats finished the
night with almost as many offensive rebounds (18) as defensive (20). The
visitors' 38 rebounds were 14 more than Peoria's 24.
Mesquite raced to a 53-39 halftime advantage and led by as many as 29 in
the third quarter before a late Peoria barrage made the final score a
respectable 96-85 Wildcats.
"I think our guys did an extremely good job of passing the basketball and
finding open men. Peoria likes to trap you and run at you, and I thought
for the most part we did a good job with our spacing, and being able to
find that next man," Mesquite coach Shawn Lynch said. "They did a great
job on the glass."
Mesquite moves to the semifinals with a shot to knock off defending
champion Phoenix St Mary's Catholic. The #2 seeded Knights host the
Wildcats Tuesday night.
Calmese averages 31.5 points a game and will have the help of junior guard
Cohen J. Gonzalez, who finished with 20 points Friday night.
"This is an excellent team we played and we needed to come out and play
our best. But from what we went through last year, losing a close one in
the quarters, and having some experience, I think that does help," Lynch
said. "We feel fortunate to get this win because we know how good Peoria
is. We're in the semifinals so we're going to do our best."
A young Peoria (21-6) team overflowing with guards is left to look to the
future. Freshmen Caden Bass and Christopher Brookins started all year.
Tay Bloomer, a natural wing forced to play in the post some at 6-2, is the
Panthers only senior starter. Guard Jose Baez was the only other senior in
the rotation.
"Jose Baez, Tay Bloomer and Marier Adehim are the three prdedominant
seniors, and then Isaac Gomez. With those three, their leadership, passion
and grit and demand of the younger guys is going to leave a void but it
will be filled," Battillo said. "They've really grown this group well."
And the junior guard tandem of Camacho and Calvin Windley led Peoria back
to a top three ranking in 4A and a West Valley Region title after an
injury riddled 2021 season where the Panthers missed the playoffs.
Windley scored an impressive 24 points, with a caveat. He sprained his
knee in Peoria's first-round rout of ALA-Queen Creek but gave it a go
Friday.
However, he picked up three fouls in less than three minutes of first half
play. Four of his points were in the first quarter, while 13 were in the
fourth after the result was decided.
"Calvin demands so much of himself and at halftime he took accountability
for getting himself in foul trouble - three fouls in barely two minutes,"
Battillo said. "He understood the impact that had on the game. He
committed to his team that he would come out there and be better, and he
literally left it all on the floor."
Battillo said that bounce back is typical of this season's team - which he
said worked harder than any group he has coached.
West Valley Region player of the year Camacho (26.5 points per game, 4.5
assists) sets the tone.
"It's a tough pill to swallow but I'm extremely proud. No one picked us to
win the region or go this far. It doesn't make it easier but I'm
definitely proud of the hard work these guys put in," Battillo said. "I'm
very, very optimistic for what our future holds. Tomorrow it begins."
●●●●●●
Mesquite rolls past Prescott in 4A
February 15, 2021 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Mesquite's Nate Calmese commanded the first half's offense. Teammates
Cohenj Gonzales, Nick Rogers and Kayson Bryant chimed in the second half.
#6 Mesquite used an early 11-0 in the third period to break open a tight
game and defeat #11 Prescott, 93-70, in the first round of the 4A boys
basketball state tournament at Mesquite. Mesquite (24-3) advances to
Friday's quarterfinals. The Wildcats will travel to play #3 Peoria at 7
p.m. Peoria eliminated ALA Queen Creek, 83-52. Prescott finished 17-11.
Calmese, one of four seniors starting for coach Shawn Lynch, poured in 18
of his game-high 27 points in the first half. Mesquite needed them all as
Prescott hung tough the first 16 minutes. Mesquite led 35-34 at
intermission.
Bryant basically performed a lay-up drill in the third period allowing
Mesquite to take firm control. Bryant connected for 12 points in the
quarter (6 for 6 from the field with (five layups) and a 5-footer). The
11-0 run in the quarter came after Prescott had tied the score at 39. The
Wildcats lead was 56-46 after three periods. Bryant tallied 14 of his 17
points in the second half, Rogers 17 of his 19 and Gonzalez 17 of his 24.
Mesquite rang up a 37-24 advantage in the fourth quarter, making sure its
lead held and grew with solid free-throw shooting. The Wildcats connected
on 16 of 21 charity tosses as Prescott's only chance to rally was fouling
and hoping for many misfires. Gonzales was 10-of 10 from the line in the
quarter.
Jason Parent led Prescott with 19 points. He was limited in the first half
with intermittent foul trouble and scored just 5 points the first two
periods. His best quarter was the fourth (10 points), but the outcome was
pretty much determined by then. Freshman point guard Uriah Tenette kept
Prescott in the game with 15 of his team-high 20 points. Senior Jonas
Carman also scored in double figures for the Badgers with 13, including a
team-best three threes.
All the top-seeds teams won 4A first-round games on Tuesday -- #1
Salpointe, #2 St. Mary's, #3 Peoria, #4 Deer Valley, #5 Notre Dame Prep,
#6 Mesquite, #7 Paradise Honors and #8 Cactus.
●●●●●●
Brophy defense keys victory over Mesquite
December 20, 2021 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
The statistics indicated to beat Mesquite boys basketball limiting or
neutralizing top scorers Nate Calmese and Cohenj Gonzales would be a solid
strategy. Brophy Prep did just that Monday in handing Mesquite a 68-41
loss on the opening day of the 14th annual Visit Mesa Basketball Challenge
at Mountain View High School.
Brophy improved to 8-1 with the victory and Mesquite suffered only its
third loss in 12 games to open the four-day tourney.
Brophy clamped down on Calmese (33 points a game entering the contest) and
Gonzales (nearly 16 points an outing) from the get-go. Neither player
scored in the first half while Brophy built a 39-12 advantage. Calmese got
a couple baskets and two free throws in the second half to finish with six
points. Gonzales did not score.
"We defended well as a group," Brophy coach Matt Hooten said. "It's hard
to take away dynamic players. Our guys did a great job."
Offensively Brophy had everyone active and involved. The Broncos starters
scored 37 of the 39 points in the first 16 minutes. All five tallied
between a low of three and a high of 10 in that span. Each one connected
on a three-point field goal in the first half.
Senior forward Trey Phillips paced Brophy with 16 points, sophomore
Braeden Speed added 12 and senior Patrick Chew chipped in 11. Phillips
made 7of 9 shots, mostly from close range via fast breaks or putbacks. He
also sank a three.
●●●●●●
No suspense: Mesquite puts away Poston Butte
early
December 1, 2021 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Mesquite left its fans satisfied in its home opener, romping to an 89-44
victory over Poston Butte on Wednesday night in 4A boys basketball action.
Senior guard Nate Calmese didn't reach his season average of a tick under
37 points a game, but his 30 points in this one was good enough. The
Wildcats other double-figure scorer, Cohenj Gonzales, finished with 18.
Mesquite wasted little time gaining control, taking a 16-5 lead midway
through the first period. By quarter's end the margin was a hefty 28-7.
Poston Butte was never able to make a game of it.
"Our 1-3-1 zone did a good job covering up the gaps," Mesquite coach Shawn
Lynch said. "I liked our intensity, and how we are working on defense."
Calmese and Gonzalez tallied eight points each in the first-quarter
getaway. The duo combined for 32 points in the first half helping secure a
54-20 margin at intermission. Poston Butte's leading scorer - Edmond Touye
- was the bulk of the Broncos' offense. He scored 22 points - 11 in each
half.
Mesquite improved to 4-1 and evened its power-ranking game record at 1-1.
The Wildcats lost their first power-ranking game earlier in the week to
Gilbert. Mesquite won three of four games in the Fear The Hop Invite at
Mesa High. Poston Butte saw its record dip to 1-4. The Broncos lost three
of four in the Joe Partain Memorial Classic in Coolidge last week.
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Fear The Hop Thanksgiving Tournament
@FTHTournament - 11/27/21
Mesquite gets the win over Campo Verde 80-75. Nate Calmese had 44 points
in the win and Isaiah Kai had 24 points. Both players were named to the
1st Team All Tournament.
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