The kids are alright. They are definitely alright.

The ‘kids’ are the 6A No. 11 seed Mesa Jackrabbits, who took to the floor Wednesday night starting a freshman and three sophomores against defending state champ Peoria Liberty in semifinal action in Peoria.

The visitors managed to, from nearly start to finish, frustrate and stymie the senior ladened Lions’ squad, resulting in a 56-53 upset win.

The victory advanced Mesa (15-6) to Saturday afternoon’s 6A final versus Phoenix Brophy Prep at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“We’re so young. I’ve been teaching more than coaching, so I’ve been letting the young guys learn on the fly,” said Mesa coach Scott Stansberry.

“We have made a lot of mistakes along the way, but they are learning. I’m just glad we are still playing.”

The key young guy this night was freshmen phenom Jakyi Miles.

The 6-4 point guard had his shot on cruise control, netting 26 points, including four from behind the arc, to help propel his team to the road upset.

None of Miles’ points were bigger than his layup with 3:17 left to play, putting the Jackrabbits back in the lead for good at 50-49.

This came after Liberty’s Stephan Miller scored a layup of his own with 3:50 in the fourth, giving Liberty its first lead of the game since the 6:07 mark of the second stanza.

“Before the game, I had the mindset that I had to do whatever I need to do to make my team win, and we accomplished it,” Miles stated.

“We stayed patient (on offense) and didn’t let them speed us up. That was our plan,” Miles added.

Neither team led by more than eight points the entire night. As the clock wound down, and the Lions trailing 56-53, they afforded themselves a few opportunities to tie the game.

But two missed 3-point attempts in the final seconds prevented them from advancing.

“We fought. We had looks at the end. We had wide open shots,” explained Liberty coach Mark Wood.

“It’s unfortunate. In a game of this magnitude every little thing counts. We just made one play less than they did.”

The game started off with extremely shaky play by both teams, with the teams combining for 10 first quarter turnovers.

The game was just 4-4 with only 2:10 left in the first, when a Miles three gave Mesa its first lead. The mistakes eventually levelled off.

The squads are used to scoring a ton and had to adapt, but Liberty never really did.

Senior Jackson Hunter led the Lions with 17 points while junior TJ Harris chipped in with 14 of his own.