Hoops: District 4AA foes keeping watchful eye on Rangerettes, new head coach

By Glen Rosales | For The New Mexican
Posted: 11/19/2009, 11:00 PM Mountain time

David Salcido has patiently watched the Mora High School girls basketball team from the bench, content to let long-time head coach Mark Cassidy be the front man as the Rangerettes annually contended for the Class AA state championships, winning one in 1998.

Salcido remained in the background, even as he contributed to the team's success as an assistant. Now that the head coach's whistle is around his neck, however, things have changed just a bit.

"There's going to be a lot of pressure on me," Salcido admits. "People expect you to win. Especially in Northern New Mexico. The support in the community is unbelievable,
but the fans expect you to win. They don't always realize how competitive it can be."

Those expectations are heightened when you consistently win, which the Rangerettes have done, having won the last four District 4AA championships. And they don't disappear even with a change in coaches.

Still, knowing the community is behind them gives the players extra incentive to be better.

"When you have that spirit, it makes the young ladies want to work harder and play harder," Salcido says.

Mora might have a stranglehold on the district in recent years, but Pecos head coach Benny Gallegos hopes the coaching transition, coupled with his strength underneath, is what the Lady Panthers need to vault over Mora. His program has been the district runner-up in each of the last four years.

"Cassidy's a great coach and Salcido, he's learned a lot under Cassidy," Gallegos says. "But I think we have a little more talent and I think we have bigger players. I think our post players are going to be the difference and help us win the district."

The Lady Panthers need to make a splash soon, he said, or he might be joining Cassidy in the stands.

"I better do something and finally win a district championship," says Gallegos, who has been at the helm for six years to make him the district's coaching dean. "It's going to be a hard-fought district."

As for how Salcido became the head coach is a strange tale, and he did so only at the behest of others.

When the job was thrown open to all comers after last season and Cassidy did not get it, Salcido told the team that he also wouldn't be returning. After circumstances caused the Mora administration to reopen the position, Cassidy decided not to apply.

"It was a shock to all of us when coach Cassidy wasn't brought back," Salcido says.

Salcido was still reluctant to apply for the position that had belonged to his friend and mentor for so long.

"But the young ladies on the team all came up to me and asked me to apply," Salcido recalls. "And I talked with coach Cassidy and he said go ahead."

Now he steps into the pressure cooker, taking over a program of his own for the first time.

"But I'm going to run the same system he ran," he says. "That's one of the reasons the girls wanted me to be the coach, because they knew I wouldn't change anything and it would be easier for them."

The two coaches, however, had already planned to play a faster-tempo game this season and Salcido has been busy installing that scheme.

"We have a lot of speed on the team and we wanted to take advantage of that," Salcido says. "But that's not really that much of a change."

As for incorporating his own philosophies, that's not going to happen for a while.

"It could change later, but right now, I'm going to keep things the way he had them," Salcido says.

And why not?

Cassidy built a successful program in Mora, and Salcido helped with the process.

"We've been together so long, we knew what the other guy was thinking," Salcido says. "We'd just look at each other and we'd know what was on each other's mind. He wasn't just the head coach. He was my friend and we talk a lot. I know if there's ever a situation where I need some advice, he'll be there for me."

With somebody like Cassidy behind him, Salcido is confident the Rangerettes will be successful again.

"I do have a lot of pressure on me, but with the experience he's given me and the things he's taught me, I should be all right," Salcido says. "We have some very good young ladies in the program. They're very talented."

What's more, because of his years in the program, he knows the players well and they know him.

"We have a level of trust with each other," Salcido says. "When we have that kind of relationship, that bonding and that trust in each other, it helps us all be better."




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