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Mesquite overwhelms Marcos de Niza
January 20, 2023 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Mesquite's boys basketball team didn't dally taking
command of its 4A Desert Sky Region game on Friday night. Halfway through
the first period the Wildcats owned a 13-2 lead over Marcos de Niza. Their
double-digit margin remained intact from that point as they cruised to to
a 68-43 victory at Mesquite.
Mesquite, #6 in the latest 4A power-rankings and the
defending 4A state champions, remained unscathed in region play. Shawn
Lynch's Wildcats are 17-6 overall and 7-0 in region and have won 10 of
their last 11 games. Marcos de Niza lost its fourth consecutive game and
dipped under the .500 mark for the season at 11-12. The Padres, #27 in the
power-rankings, are 1-5 in region.
Three players scored in double figures for Mesquite. Senior CohenJ
Gonzales topped the trio with a game-high 25 points - just shy of his 25.8
scoring average for the season. Nine of his points were tallied in the
first quarter that saw the Wildcats build a 22-6 lead. Sophomore Devone
Pless added 14 points, 12 in the first half. Junior Jaylen Wollangk
chipped in 13 points - six in the first half and seven in the second half.
Two players supplied the bulk of Marcos de Niza's scoring - senior Rayvell
Suggs (16 points) and senior Charles Clark (12 points).
Mesquite dominates Seton Catholic
December 16, 2022 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Mesquite's boys basketball team has endured a pair of
tight losses recently to sister schools in the Gilbert district. 6A
Gilbert High bested Mesquite by two and 5A Campo Verde prevailed by three.
In between the Wildcats have taken out some frustration from those
contests, levying that on 4A Desert Sky Region foes.
The latest region victim was Seton Catholic on Friday night. Mesquite
built a 12-point, first-half lead and went on to 78-51 triumph at
Mesquite. A week before (Dec.10) the Wildcats posted an 87-56 victory over
Saguaro. Mesquite is 8-5 overall and 2-0 in region. Seton is (5-7, 0-1).
Mesquite senior guard CohenJ Gonzales poured in a game-high 32 points.
Gonzales netted 22 in the first half (11 in each quarter). Gonzales sank
five threes as part of this total output and his teammates combined for
seven more.
Mesquite's Jaylen Wollangk took over as the offensive catalyst in the
second half. Wollangk, a junior guard, finished with 19 points. He scored
12 in the third quarter, blunting a Seton comeback bid. Ten of Wollangk's
points in the third came after Seton rallied to within 39-32 with 4:51
left in the quarter. By the end of the third quarter, Mesquite had the
game in hand with 57-39 advantage.
Senior guard Zach Strauss led Seton with 23 points, 11 of those in the
second quarter. Strauss connected on four threes and scored all his points
in the first three quarters. Also scoring in double digits for Seton was
forward Jake Morris with 12 points. Ten of Morris's points came after
intermission.
Both schools next action before the new year begins are in tournaments.
Mesquite plays in the Visit Mesa Basketball Challenge (Monday through
Thursday). The Wildcats play their games at Red Mountain High School in
the On This Mountain bracket. Competing in the bracket with Mesquite are
Campo Verde, Patriack Henry (CA), Maricopa, Smoky Hill (CO), Red Mountain,
Pima and Rock Canyon (CO).
Seton resumes play Dec. 28-30 in the Epic Tourneys New Years Classic.
Seton's games are tentatively set to be played at Skyline High School. The
Sentinels first opponent (Dec. 28) is Combs.
Mesquite hoops hope for back-to-back championships with new
team
December 2, 2022 by Mia Carpenter, Arizona State University
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.
Mia Leon-Carpenter is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student
assigned to cover Mesquite High School for AZPreps365.com
Basha's strong start keeps Mesquite at
bay
November 29, 2022 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Basha's boys hoops success early in the 2022-23 season continued on
Tuesday with the Bears posting their fifth win in as many games with a
74-65 victory over host Mesquite.
The game was the first of the power-ranking variety for both schools.
Basha convincingly swept four opponents in the Phoenix Union Coyote
Classic last week. With the second week of the regular season underway,
Basha got the jump on Mesquite forcing it to play from behind the entire
evening. Mesquite (2-3) split four games last week in Mesa's High's Fear
the Hop Invite.
Basha used balanced scoring with a trio checking in with double figures.
Junior Christian Warren netted 21 points, senior Torin Bosch had 19 and
freshman Mason Magee chipped in 17. Justin Garcia off the bench added
eight points. Mesquite senior CohenJ Gonzales fresh off scoring the
1,000th point of his career last week, led the Wildcats with 39 points.
The tone was set in the first three minutes by Basha. The Bears led 9-2 at
that point with four different players hitting a bucket in the run. Bosch,
Warren and Magee scored six points apiece in the quarter. Mesquite trailed
only 22-17 after one.
Magee with a couple of layups, one off a steal, led by 15 with 50 seconds
left in the half. The Bears settled for a 43-32 advantage at intermission.
Warren pretty much doused Mesquite's bid for a rally. Warren sank a pair
of threes and used a nice spin move for a deuce. In two minutes Mesquite's
deficit increased from 11 to 19. Mesquite never cut its deficit below 10
in the second half.
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