FEATURE: Hard work, youthful talent, new venue has Maidens staring at a bright future

Photos courtesy of Santos Gomez

COMANCHE — For 10 years, coach Diana Salinas and her Comanche girls basketball program have had their share of ups and downs, with an overall record of 122-130 and five playoff appearances. A widely divergent mix of veteran and very youthful clubs were a factor in this, with the program rebuilding after each set of heavy graduation losses.

There are, however, several signs that Comanche’s search for consistency is on the verge of ending, not the least of which is its current 16-1 record and top-five rankings by both the Texas Girls Coaches Association and the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Only this time around, the Maidens are playing at an elite level, despite being extremely young. 

Rather than being in another rebuilding cycle, the Maidens are riding a 12-game winning streak with a roster consisting of two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and a freshman.  Perhaps most importantly, their three leading scorers are a junior (Kinsey Glasgow, 17.3) and two sophomores (J’Lee Salinas and Jade Morin) who average 13.2 and 11.8 points, respectively.