JT Keith

Artesia Daily Press

jtkeith@elrtiomedia.com

Artesia girls’ basketball coach Candace Pollard will host her second basketball camp for girls from Wednesday to Friday, June 25-27.

The camp will have two sessions, with the kindergarten through fifth graders participating from 10 a.m. to noon and the sixth through ninth graders from 1-4 p.m.

“We are looking forward to camp,” Pollard said. “I want to have as many one-on-ones with kids at the camp as possible. It is going to be a good time.”

Pollard made the playoffs in her first year as head coach, going 10-17 overall before losing to the eventual 2025 Nusenda Credit Union Girls Basketball State Class 4 champion Gallup.

“June is our basketball month,” Pollard said. “We’ve been going every morning, Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to noon. We have little girls come in, and we are doing fundamental work, just getting the ball in the kids’ hands.”

Team camps in June

The Artesia girls’ basketball team has played in other team camps in June. On weekends, they have traveled to Lubbock Christian, San Angelo, Las Cruces and Oklahoma team amps.

The first one the Lady ’Dogs played in was the Lubbock Christian Team Camp. Pollard said the camp was great for her team because many girls had not played basketball since March.

“That camp was great for our girls,” Pollard said. “They go off and play spring sports. This camp is a good jump-start for us.”

Las Cruces Team Camp

The Lady ’Dogs went to a team camp in Las Cruces on June 6-8 and played against teams such as Organ Mountains, Alamogordo, Tularosa and Mayfield.

Pollard said she was happy with the competition and how the Lady ’Dogs played.

San Angelo Team Camp

Artesia also played at the San Angelo Team Camp at Angelo State University in Texas. The Lady ’Dogs played Texas teams such as Brownwood and Randall.

Pollard said her team went into overtime in some of the games they played, also making it to the bracket play-in games.

“That was huge for us,” Pollard said. “Texas basketball is different than New Mexico basketball. It is a little bit faster and a little bit more up-tempo. It was good for our girls to get out there and compete.”

Pollard said that she and the assistant coaches are seeing a shift in the little things–that the players are picking up on the changes the coaches have implemented.

Oklahoma Team Camp

For its last camp, the team attended the Oklahoma Team Camp on June 20-21. She compared the caliber of basketball in Oklahoma to that of Texas.

“June is not just basketball month for Artesia,” Pollard said. “Everybody (teams) is out there trying to get better. If you are here, you are fundamentally getting better, creating those memories and building relationships with the teammates you will play with this season.”

jtkeith can be reached at 575-420-0061, or on X@JTKEITH1.