Mexico boys basketball knows what it is getting with its guards and hopes for more.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 23-7 season and their fourth state quarterfinal run in five years and return all-conference guards Kaden Benne and Charlie Fisher from that team. Beyond them, the team hopes kids handle their bigger roles well.

Head coach Darren Pappas said about 12-13 of the total 25-30 kids will be on varsity, and he expects the roster to be younger this season.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that it’s probably going to be their first year on a varsity roster,” Pappas said. “We need them to show us that maturity as fast as they can.”

Having Benne and Fisher be the only returning starters makes them the leaders this season, Pappas said, and it reveals the strengths of these Bulldogs.

“It will allow us to stretch the defenses out with our 3-point shooting abilities,” Pappas said. “We cam move the basketball and find the open man. I like the way that we can attack the paint. I like all five guys at any given point can be a threat inside the arc and outside the arc.”

James Matthews being bumped up from a reserve to a starter adds another to its strong guard group, and Pappas said he is looking for more consistency from him. Kinser Groves is a senior who has been with the program for four years and varsity for three years and will be counted on in the post along with junior Brady Thoenen.

“Hopefully we can get a lot of Brady Thoenen down low,” Pappas said. “We know Kinser Groves is going to give us everything’s he got. (Groves) may be outsized, but he can outwork people. Brady Thoenen in that front court will have to be a factor for us.”

Last season, PJ Perkins and Holden Aulbur led Mexico in the post as each of them worked hard rebounding. Pappas said the Bulldogs have plenty of athleticism with its shorter roster so they should be able to snag some rebounds with athleticism and focus on technique.

“That’s going to be the emphasis, and we’re going to continue to emphasize that as the season goes on,” Pappas said. “We’re not the tallest team, but we’re quick. We’ve got to be able to put bodies on people.”

Pappas said he is looking for production off the bench from kids like senior Kelvin Watson as well as the sophomore group Mexico will have this season. As always, he is looking for everybody to be a solid defensive unit and can do that with a “chaotic but disciplined and connected” brand of defense.

Other goals that haven’t changed is to try to win at least 20 games, compete for a conference championship and make a deep postseason run hopefully to Mexico’s first Final Four since 1998. The two-time reigning conference champion Bulldogs will have a challenging schedule once again, starting with their final season in the North Central Missouri Conference.

“You want to go out on top and that last conference title,” Pappas said. “Usually, when you win a conference title, that means you’ve played well throughout the entire season. I think these guys are ready for the challenge and are up for the challenge.”