Nate Calmese is having a very good week. As almost everybody in the sports nation knows by now, the Mesquite senior guard hit a midcourt shot at the buzzer to knock off No. 2 St. Mary’s 74-73 in the semifinal round last Tuesday. It was an improbable shot that stood up despite questions on whether he released the ball on time but there is no question about the 34 points he scored against No. 1 Salpointe Monday night to win the 4A state championship by a score of 64-58.

Salpointe (18-1 in ranking games) was an obvious favorite under first-year head coach Eric Castillo especially after the Lancers took care of No. 4 Deer Valley 60-53 in the other semifinal match. There was no need for desperation in that game but there was plenty of excitement in Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum Monday night.

No. 6 Mesquite (20-1) had one loss that counted in the rankings and that was a 79-66 setback to 5A power Gilbert in November. How good was that loss? No. 2 Gilbert (18-3) is playing No. 5 Centennial (17-4) for the 5A state championship Tuesday night.

Salpointe led 34-29 with 1:22 left in the second quarter but Mesquite won the game on a 10-0 run that extended into the third quarter to go up 39-34 with 6:28 left in that period. It was a margin that would increase to 60-53 with 3:08 left in the game but the Lancers were in the game with three straight shots at coming within one point but each of those 3-point attempts came up short down the stretch and time and fouls played out to the 64-58 win by Mesquite.

Calmese added 10 rebounds to his 34 points and Cohenj Gonzales added 14 points. The Lancers were led by 13 from James Smotherton and Brett Rosenblatt and 11 from Julian Riesgo. Dillan Baker scored 7 and he pulled down 8 rebounds. The Lancers needed one more shot down the stretch but it was a successful season for Castillo regardless.

Mesquite coach Shawn Lynch picked up his second title since guiding Mesa to a championship in 2004. He loses nine seniors to graduation including Calmese but an uncertain future will never erased the incredible journey the Wildcats completed this year.