Leading 62-48 with just under four minutes left to play, it looked all but certain that Millard North was about to do what most everyone had expected since the start of the season.

Instead, No. 3-seed Bellevue West closed with a 16-0 run to end the game and stole the 2020 Nebraska Class A boys basketball championship from the No. 2 Mustangs, 64-62.

Even now, a full five months after the fact, the returning members of MNS’s loaded lineup say that game eats at them every day. It’s also served as their primary motivation during a turbulent summer.

“It’s the biggest motivation ever,” 2022 Millard North forward Jasen Green said. “We were up 13 with four minutes left. We should not have lost that game. This year we’re coming back hungry. We’re definitely winning this year.”

The Mustangs were stacked with Division-I talent last season, but this year’s team might be even better. Gone is 2020 Rivals150 four-star and Stanford signee Max Murrell, but back are four DI prospects in 2020-21.

Green is a top Nebraska target and holds other high-major offers from TCU, Kansas State, and Stanford. Then there’s 2021 wing Saint Thomas, who has offers from Mississippi State, TCU, Virginia Tech, and others.

2021 point guard Jadin Johnson just announced his commitment to Old Dominion last week after getting interest from schools like Iowa, Wisconsin, and Creighton.

The centerpiece of Millard North’s lineup, however, is 2021 five-star guard Hunter Sallis.

One of the top recruits in the country and rated the No. 11 overall player in the ’21 class, Sallis is up to 31 high-major offers from Nebraska and some of college basketball’s biggest names. Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Gonzaga, UCLA, Oregon, Louisville, UConn, and Texas Tech are just some of the schools that highlight his offer list.

So there’s plenty of reason for high school basketball fans around the state to be bullish on Millard North’s chances this season. But no one is going to have bigger expectations than the Mustangs themselves.

“Our coaches always tell us, ‘remember that feeling,’” Sallis said of last year’s state title loss. “Hopefully that adds fire to us and playing with a chip on our shoulder helps us. Our plan is really to get back there and win it this time.”

Thomas said his team’s confidence shouldn’t be mistaken for arrogance, either.

“Every guy on our team has been humble,” Thomas said. “We just have to come in with the same mindset and just have that dog in us, because everyone is going to give us their best.”

That said, the Mustangs aren’t shying away from putting their season goal out there for everyone to see.

“The No. 1 thing, we want to take state this year,” Green said. “We should’ve won last year, but stuff happened. But we’ll be back this year. We’re winning this year, 100 percent.”

“Yeah, I’ll follow that up,” Sallis added. “I’ll make sure we get there.”