Mexico boys basketball has used defense to drive its way to two district titles twice in the previous three years.

The Bulldogs were cognizant of defense this week as they began their summer schedule with the Monroe City Summer Shootout on Monday and Wednesday. They finished 5-1 in three games played on each day with several players stepping into bigger roles to fill the holes left by three graduated starters.

Mexico defeated reigning district champion South Shelby, Griggsville Perry and Camp Point Central — with the latter two out of Illinois — on Day 1 and then won against Unity out of Illinois and Monroe City on the second day, with a 49-44 loss to Montgomery County (19-8 a year ago) being the only loss. 

The Bulldogs limited opponents to less than 50 points per game in back-to-back seasons to win district titles before 56 points allowed a year ago so head coach Darren Pappas said they’ve been working on defense.

“I really liked how we’re playing as a team and how we’re getting after it defensively,” Pappas said. “We changed our defense a little bit so we’re trying to be more aggressive and try to create more deflections and steals and hopefully convert those into points.”

Pappas said developing the defense went hand-in-hand with chemistry this week as he thought the Bulldogs were building that trust and that mindset needed to be annoying on the defensive end. 

They repeatedly picked up turnovers in their first game Wednesday against Unity, surging to a 23-0 lead to start the game, and were able to get into a back-and-forth battle against Montgomery that was separated by one possession in the final minute thanks to some defensive stops. This all happened without the graduated Jordan Shelton, Anthony Shivers and Dante Kelley, who were all starters for Mexico and all crucial on defense.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys that are stepping into bigger roles on the varsity team this year,” Pappas said. “We’re trying to develop that team chemistry and team toughness on both ends of the floor. I really like what I’m seeing. I really am impressed with our pace of play — how we’re pushing the ball up the floor, running the floor, finding the extra man on the inside-out passes and knocking down some perimeter shooting.”

Pappas said PJ Perkins and Donye Nunnelly were good inside this week as returning starters, but the same can be said for Holden Aulbur and Grant Broeker, who each spent a majority of playing time on junior varsity last year. He also said he likes how underclassmen perimeter players Sam Ryan, Kaden Benne and Charlie Fisher are adjusting to varsity play already after each getting a taste last year.

Upcoming senior point guard DJ Long expects to be an integral part of the team this year following an all-conference and all-district season that included him scoring his 1,000th career point and being named the team’s offensive player of the year.

“He’s got to be that floor general because as he goes, the team goes,” Pappas said.

Pappas said Mexico will have plenty of opportunities to make tweaks this summer with more games in the future.

“We have to do some better things on the defensive end like hold teams to one shot,” Pappas said. “We can’t give them second and third opportunities. We’re not the tallest team.”