Questa coaches earn All-Star nod
Father and son combo make history
Dale Cisneros Sr. and Dale Cisneros Jr. had already made New Mexico high school basketball history as the only father-son combo to play in the North v. South (now rebranded as the Red v. Green) All-Star game.
On Friday (March 17), Cisneros Sr. and Jr. added to that legacy by becoming the first father/son duo to coach in the All-Star game when they traveled to Gallup to coach the girls Red team, and the first coaches to ever lead a state All-Star team, they said.
“From the standpoint of the girls, it was just an honor to coach such outstanding talented athletes. It was incredible to see a group like that with such talent,” Cisneros Sr. said.
The players on the team came from nearby places in Northern New Mexico and as far away as Carlsbad. Two of the players were very familiar to Cisneros Sr. — Amarissa Quintana of Mesa Vista and Cipriana Garcia of Escalante, whom Cisneros had to game plan against as the coach of the Questa Lady Wildcats.
“It was different, you know, to be able to be their [opponent] and then be their coach. It was actually fun, it was real fun,” Cisneros Sr. said.
Cisneros Sr. graduated class of ’79 and was the first Wildcat to make the All-Star game. He would then go on to coach on-and-off for Questa for over 20 years.
According to Cisneros Sr., he’s only ever had two losing seasons.
The data on MaxPreps only goes back as far as the 2006 regular season. He’s the only coach since then to have a winning season for Questa, going 16-12 in the 2019 season, taking the Lady Wildcats to the state tournament as the 12th seed where they were bounced in the first round.
After the 2021 season, Cisneros Sr. took a break from coaching but was called up back to the hardwood for the All-Star game. Cisneros Sr. had to shift his focus from a standard game to that of an exhibition game for seniors.
“My whole focus on the game was to play everyone, ‘cause they earned the right to be there since they were kiddos,” he said. “So, I ended up playing everybody, regardless of the outcome of the game.”
In addition, Cisneros Sr. mentioned there were scouts in attendance and some of the girls had intentions of playing college ball.
“There were 12 of them so you’re limited by the [playing] time. But I told ‘em, ‘I’m going to play you out and you just display your talent. You know, it’s not a matter of winning or losing.’”
There is currently a coaching vacancy for both the Questa boys and girls basketball teams, but Cisneros Sr. is not quite sure if he’ll get back out there to lead either Questa team to a winning season.
“It’s in the back of my head,” he said. “I just haven’t made a decision yet. I’ve got some personal stuff that I’m going through so I haven’t really made a decision.”