Demonettes have a new mindset

Coach wants the girls to freelance and have fun

When Nate Morris took over the Santa Fe High School girls basketball program before this season, he knew one of the biggest things he needed to change was the team’s mindset.

After going 28-54 in the past three seasons and taking on a fourth head coach in five seasons, the program needed some stability and some rejuvenation.

Enter Morris, who was with Sandia as a varsity assistant last season.

“They were lacking so much confidence,” he said. “Getting them to believe they can win games. New year, new system.”

The first thing on the agenda was getting the player to remember that basketball is a game and it should be enjoyable.

“Number one is not yelling at the kids,” Morris said. “We needed to be reassuring, tell them we believe in you and let them play their game. Sometimes, you just have to let them play, just going out there freelancing it, playing basketball. Sometimes, you have to draw up a play and run it, but for the most part, just play basketball and have fun.”

Entering this weekend’s Capitol City tournament, the Demonettes are off to a 2-2 start, including a big win Tuesday at Los Alamos when they were down by 12 at halftime.

“Last year, that game would have been over,” Morris said. “But we won the third quarter 24-6 and turned the game around.”

Santa Fe is doing it with a largely unproven roster, as there are just two returning players with varsity experience after senior Janaye Leyba blew out her knee last week.

Luckily senior Taylor Salazar, who herself is returning from a torn ACL last year, is looking a like a player who will get a chance at the next level. She tore up the Hilltoppers for 35 points with seven 3-pointers and going 10-for10 from the line.

“She had a game that we normally see from her,” Morris said. “That’s the way she’s supposed to play. She put the ball in the bucket.”

But Salazar was able to do it within the framework of the offense, finding her open teammates when she was double or triple teamed.

For instance, the floor was opened up for sophomore Heavan Martinez to score 16 points.

“Players aren’t just standing around watching her play,” Morris said. “They’re coming off the ball screens and Taylor, she sees them and getting others involved. We know other teams are going to key on her.”

Fellow senior Mari Fernandez is helping out with the leadership role, while the Demonettes will benefit from a couple of six-footers under the basket in junior Amber Lucero and sophomore Yazmin Cintron.

“The number one thing we’re going to do is play man defense,” Morris said. “We don’t play zone. Man to man slows a lot of teams down. A lot of teams run zone, but we’re going to put ball pressure on their guards.

“We play that way through 32 minutes because we play all 10 of our players. The last four years, they were relying on six or seven players. In our system, everybody plays. We pick it up full court, make sure our defense is taking care of business and rotating.”

Additionally, the Demonettes are going to be putting it up.

“Everybody is going to have the green light to shoot,” Morris said. “Everybody is gaining confidence in that.”

So if Santa Fe can win the games the coach believes the team should, and they are competitive against some of the top dogs in the state, they should have a chance to make the state tournament.

“In the poll that came out, we did not get one vote,” Morris said. “That’s the attitude coaches around the state have. Neither did Capital. They think that Santa Fe schools are not that good. Well, I think we can compete. Hopefully, we can sneak up on some people.”