The boys’ basketball season will tip off next week with one burning question.

Can anyone challenge the Fort Myers Green Wave for the District 4A-11 crown?

The Green Wave are coming off an unprecedented championship run a year ago. They are the first team in a six-county area to capture a boys’ basketball state championship.

Mariner is considered a really talented team and should be a favorite to knock the Green Wave off their perch. From there, every other team is about equal. North Fort Myers expects to be better and Cypress Lake is improved. Cape Coral and Ida Baker were middle of the pack last year, and likely will remain there.

Nothing is etched in stone, and the road to the district championship is paved with potholes, but here is an assessment of season expectations.

Cape Coral Seahawks: The success of the football program is hindering preparations for the basketball program.

“We graduated one senior (Joel Hill) and those shoes will be hard to fill,” said coach Mark Rinehart. “We could have as many as seven guys back depending when football is over. Still, we have quite a bit of experience coming back.”

The Seahawks have a lot to overcome in order to contend for the district title.

“We are obscenely small, in height and stature,” said Rinehart. “That’s not an excuse. I think we will be competitive, but we don’t have a lot of margin for error. The sum of all of our parts have to outweigh the rest. We need contributions from everybody in order to be a factor.”

The Seahawks will rely on a quartet of seniors returning to the fold, led by fourth-year varsity player Justin Mitchell at point guard, C.J. Carter, James McIntyre and 6-foot-2 postman Santo Figueroa. Cape’s tallest player is 6-3 sophomore Chase Galuzny.

Sophomore David Flynn is the leading scorer among the returning players.

“We have good kids who have been in the program for multiple years,” said Rinehart. “They have maturity and understand the goals of how we want them to play. We have multiple guys who can shoot, so it will come down to the effort we put in on defense.”

The Seahawks debut Monday at home against North Fort Myers.

Mariner Tritons: Coach James Harris is anxiously awaiting the start of the season, convinced the Tritons have the potential to be better than last year’s 20-9 squad that finished with a loss in the first round of the regional playoffs.

“We have so many guys who can play different positions,” said Harris. “We are skilled enough at shooting, defense and the size to go inside. I guess you could say we are very balanced.”

The Tritons graduated seven seniors off last year’s district runner-up squad, but have seven seniors again this year.

Leading the Tritons are Sam Guerrier, three-year varsity player Nick Marrero and four-year varsity player Justin Emmons. They have 6-10 junior Kendrec Ferrera and 6-7 sophomore Rick Moore to go to inside and out.

“(Moore) is the best pure shooter I’ve had in my eight years at Mariner,” said Harris. “(Ferrera) can play inside and is a good shooter on the perimeter.”

The goal is to win the district title, of course, and earn home court advantage for the playoffs, but Harris realizes it is more important to reach the district title game in order to get into the postseason.

“We have enough players with the experience from last year who understand what it takes to get where we did last year,” said Harris.

The Tritons begin their quest on their home floor on Nov. 30 against Estero.

Ida Baker Bulldogs: A good nucleus of experienced players will keep the Bulldogs in district contention and a playoff run even with first-time head coach Brad Seiss taking over the program.

Seiss replaces Greg Coleman, who compiled a 47-36 record in three seasons at Baker.

“The senior leaders are listening with a good attitude and have done a great job in the offseason,” said Seiss. “It was a tough situation for the kids, but they are adjusting and have made it an easy transition.”

Seiss has four players back with varsity experience, plus an influx of new players up from a JV team that lost only three games last year.

Seniors Shaun Manego and Christian Davis head up the Bulldog returnees along with 6-7 Phil Deems, 6-2 Jesse Tufano and Mike Richardson.

“Our guard play will be our strength,” said Seiss. “We will be a good shooting team. They are all athletic players, but we will be working to improve our rebounding and half-court defense.”

The Bulldogs host Cape Coral in their season opener Tuesday night.

Island Coast Gators: New coach Greg Coleman wrestled with the idea of having to leave Baker after three seasons, especially with the stable of experienced players coming back.

Instead, he takes over a 2-year-old program trying to mold it into a district contender.

“I had 32 players come to tryouts,” said Coleman. “We cut it down to 13 on the team and seven of those have lettered, so we have a bit of experience.”

Coleman will run a system very similar to the one he did a Baker, but modified it based on the level of talent on the Gators.

“I will play 10 to 13 players every game,” said Coleman. “All of them bring something different to the table. Our style will be more team oriented rather than built around an individual or two. Our strength will be our depth. We are real deep, so I think we can wear some teams down.”

The Gators will rely on returning seniors Greg Orellana, Billy Rees and Jason Morris in addition to junior Terrel Griffin.

“(Griffin) is the best of the returning players, had the most points per game and rebounds per game averages,” said Coleman.

The Gators don’t have a lot of size, but Coleman said 6-6 Edgar Cruz has worked himself into possibly cracking the starting lineup.

Coleman wants the Gators to compete for their Class 3A district and regional honors and expects them to be in good shape for that goal by midseason.

The Gators get started Monday at Bishop Verot.

North Fort Myers Red Knights: The buzz word about the Red Knights for the coming season is “improved.”

The Knights have eight varsity players returning from last year’s 5-19 squad and just two of those are seniors. All of them started last season on the JV squad before a promotion to the varsity and sparking some late-season success.

“We’re still a young team of starters, but we worked hard in the offseason,” said coach Mack Mitchell. “Everyone still on this team has bought into the system.”

Running the offense at the point is junior Andrew Malaise, joined by junior Steven Mercado.

Two newcomers to the varsity bring some size to the lineup. First-year varsity player Brad Schneider grew three inches since last season and stands 6-9. The other is 6-6 junior Zach Dispennette, a transfer from Bishop Verot.

“(Dispennette) will help us out a lot down low, especially on the defensive side,” said Mitchell. “(Schneider) will become a force for us in the middle and he can shoot.”

The Knights will play hard-nosed defense and like to pressure the ball.

“We will rely on our defense to create opportunities for points,” said Mitchell. “The goal for the year, of course, is to get back over the .500 mark and be a more competitive team. I think we have the skill level to do that, but the questions will be do we have enough experience.”

The Red Knights open the season on the road at Cape Coral on Monday.

Bishop Verot Vikings: Just because they lost three key seniors from last year’s team does not mean they are starting over.

“We have a good group coming back,” said Vikings coach Matt Herting. “I think it will be a special group and I hope we can hang in there.”

The leading returnees include seniors Nate Howard and Jason Hoop, and juniors Mark Wagner and Brian Reeves. Add to that 6-8 freshman Ricky Doyle plus Mason Taylor, a 6-4 guard who played JV last season.

“I think we have a balanced group of outside shooters,” said Herting, “and Doyle gives us a pure post presence. We will be able to go inside more. We are not as big and strong as we have been, but we have a good scrappy bunch of athletes.”

The Vikings still should be favored to win the district title, but Herting is expecting Dunbar and Island Coast to put up a serious challenge for the crown.

“Island Coast is the sleeper with Greg Coleman,” said Herting. “He knows our system after coaching at Verot for seven years with me, so I look for them to be right up there.”

The Vikings debut at home Monday against Coleman’s Gators.