The Navasota boys basketball team finally has some size to go with the big expectations always attached to the program.

Along with that size, the Rattlers have experience, athleticism and depth. Those attributes have produced a 16-2 record, a No. 7 state ranking and the belief that Navasota can be a threat to claim a state championship this season.

"I think we have a chance of winning state," senior point guard Tremarlon Mock said. "We're playing together as a team, and the guys have the feeling that we can make it. I think it might be our year."

The Navasota lineup is loaded at guard with Mock joined in the backcourt by junior Jacolby Stokes and senior Adam Mason. The Rattlers also are stronger inside than they've been in recent years, with 6-foot-6 sophomore center Aleon Calhoun and 6-2 junior forward Dexter Pratt.

"This is one of the most talented teams I've had," said Donald Wesley, who's in his seventh season as head coach at his alma mater. "I finally have a big man who gives us a presence in the paint, and we have a lot of guys that can play multiple positions. We can come at teams with a lot of different lineups. We can go big. We can go small. That has been a tremendous help to us."

Navasota also has dependable reserves, including sophomore Jersey Gates and juniors Brandall Jackson and Josh Lipscomb.

"Our depth is a big factor, because we play up-tempo," Wesley said. "We wear teams down. We just keep running bodies in at them."

The Rattlers are threatening to run away from the rest of District 23-3A at 4-0 in the league, two games ahead of the pack before the end of the first round. While winning district is Navasota's first goal, it's not nearly the biggest.

Wesley played on the 1990 Navasota team that went 35-0 and won the state title, and he encourages his players to think big.

"Our first goal every year is to win district, and after that we're shooting for the state title," Wesley said. "We set our standards high. I would never tell a team of mine that we don't have a chance of winning state."

It's easier for the Rattlers to envision a state title because of last season; they lost to eventual state champion Hardin-Jefferson 57-50 in the regional quarterfinals. That game and Hardin-Jefferson's subsequent run to the Class 3A crown left Mock thinking the title should have gone to the Rattlers.

"It was disappointing to us, because we felt like we could have gone all the way," Wesley said. "It made the guys that much more hungry. When Hardin-Jefferson went on and won state, that really put it in our guys' minds that we can do it."

Navasota will complete the first round of 23-3A play by hosting Giddings at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.