First-year coach Sanchez unfazed by Le Grand’s struggles

The first win is always supposed to be the hardest.

Adrian Sanchez had been made a believer. The first-year Le Grand High School boys basketball coach never envisioned entering February without a conference victory.

But that’s where the Bulldogs found themselves after four double-digit losses to open Southern League play. Some coaches might have opted for wholesale changes, but Sanchez believed steady progress was being made.

Sanchez, who played professionally in Mexico’s Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, stayed the course, playing the fast-paced, high-intensity style he learned during his time at Fresno City College, and the results followed. Le Grand has won four of five games, including victories over playoff contenders Delhi and Gustine. The only loss during the span came in overtime at Gustine.

“Getting that first win against Waterford was pretty exciting,” Sanchez said. “As a coach you start thinking what’s going to happen when you’re losing like that. Are the kids going to give up? Tap out?

“I don’t think they’ve always understood it, but the kids have always gone out and done what we’ve asked. They have never stopped playing hard and those pieces they couldn’t see before are starting to fall into place.”

After a 2-10 start to the season, Le Grand is remarkably right in the playoff mix, sitting a half game behind Orestimba and Gustine for the SL’s third and final playoff spot with three games to play.

Le Grand will see just how far it has come when it hits the road tonight to take on undefeated Mariposa (18-5, 9-0 SL).

“I honestly don’t even know what the playoff scenarios are,” Sanchez said. “A couple weeks ago, it was the last thing I was worried about.

“I’ve been most impressed with how a pretty young team really seems to learn from each game. The overtime loss to Gustine we gave up a three right at the end of regulation. We had our chances in overtime, but didn’t convert.

“The next week against Delhi it was like deja vu, we gave up a three to tie right at the end to force overtime. The kids learned from that first experience and were much more composed in overtime.”

Regardless of how the season finishes, with six underclassmen and eight possible returners on the team, Sanchez hopes the foundation for something special is being laid.

“The football team is the model here,” Sanchez said. “You see the success that they have year in and year out and that’s what we hope to someday establish with basketball.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 8:37 PM with the headline "First-year coach Sanchez unfazed by Le Grand’s struggles."