Pokorski, Storm girls ready for year two in new system

RIO RANCHO — When a program introduces a new head coach, there is always an energy in the air: a new playbook, a new system, a new mentality.

But what about year two?

The 2025-26 Storm girls basketball season will mark the second year under Stacy Pokorski. Cleveland is coming off a 13-15 season, finishing 5-5 in 1-5A. Since their first-round state loss to Farmington in early March, it has been all about building back up for the next run.

“We spent most of our fall kind of just trying to get some chemistry going," Pokorski said. “We were able to use open gyms to kind of establish, a new defense and a couple of new offenses. We open on Dec. 4, so we have a good amount of time to kind of get things going.”

Typically, following a losing season, a program seeks a revamp of its roster or system. But for Cleveland, returning three of its five starters from 2024, a season of more of the same may benefit them in the long run.

“Since it's my second year, a lot of the girls that are coming back know our strategies and know the style we want to play,” Pokorski said. “Last year was harder because it was teaching the whole program, all of the stuff we wanted to do, and it was kind of a drastic change from what they've been doing in the past. So the nice thing about this year is that we've already established a lot of that in the preseason, and our seniors are such strong leaders that they're helping us teach it to these younger kids throughout this fall.”

Those leading seniors include a backcourt of Erin Winters and Malia Mose, two guards with collegiate-level play. Mose committed to Western New Mexico this fall, while Winters is fielding offers.

Savannah Madueno, also in the senior group, adds big-time scoring to the electric blue. Madueno notched 1,000 career points last season.

In the paint, the return of Jaslene Big Crow to the Storm will pay dividends in the front court. The forward/center was limited to JV action last season due to transferring in from a prep school. She will join senior Danae Elzy in the 3-5, adding some much-needed height to this guard-heavy roster.

This squad may not be so tall and mighty, but it may be the perfect match for Pokorski’s system.

“We're really hoping to play a fast-paced tempo game, which we started to try to enforce last year. That was one of the big changes we made. They weren't really used to that tempo. So I'm really hoping this year we can continue to grow with that,” Pokorski said. “We do think we have more speed this year, so we're hoping to just kind of have a high-action, quick, fast-paced game that people can come watch.”

We will get our first look at this season’s Storm squad on Dec. 9, when Cleveland travels to take on Santa Fe High School.