New beginnings
Artesia boys’ basketball head coach Derek Montoya held his first Bulldog Team Camp after spending 12 years as an assistant coach. The camp took place June 19–20 at the Bulldog Pit.
Montoya said there’s much more preparation involved as head coach because of all the communication and scheduling required.
Summer basketball
This was the second straight weekend the Bulldogs played, following their appearance in the Albuquerque Metro Tournament at Eldorado and Manzano high schools June 12–13. They’ll wrap up summer basketball with the Eastern New Mexico University Team Camp at the Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena in Portales from Wednesday, June 24, through Friday, June 26.
The Bulldogs haven’t had their full roster together this summer, but Montoya said the games have still been valuable for player development.
“It gives our guys an opportunity to step up, play some minutes and show they deserve to play at the varsity level,” Montoya said.
Team goals
Montoya said the Bulldogs’ biggest goal is to play fast and give themselves the best chance to win.
“We want to compete, win a district championship and have a chance to compete for a state championship,” Montoya said. “We have a lot of new guys, but we don’t think of it as starting over. We think of it as reloading with the next group, and these guys have all done a good job so far.”
Smooth transition
Montoya said the transition to head coach has been smooth since he’s already coached all his players before.
“Being able to coach these kids that I’ve coached at some point over the past couple of years has been one of the best things about taking over this job,” Montoya said.
Marshall Mecham can be reached at 915‑232‑1793 or on X @mecham_marshall.
Marshall Mecham is serving with the New Mexico Local News Fellowship Program, which places emerging journalists in newsrooms across New Mexico. Learn more at newmexicolocalnewsfellowships.org.