Here's a scenario for you.

You're a certain basketball program, and you have not lost to a team in your class in almost two years.

You've won two straight state championships.

You return every starter but one from last season.

You're currently 14-3, without a blemish against a team in the state (and haven't lost to one in a calendar year) and just won your district season opener.

And yet, in the last four coaches polls, you're ranked second to a team that lost four times to you a season ago.

What's wrong with this picture?

If you're the Lady Braves of Santa Fe Indian School, you must wonder what more you have to do to earn a perch you richly deserve.

Or you use this as fodder to make yet another run for a Class AAA state title.

The Lady Braves don't speak publicly about the lack of respect they're getting from AAA coaches in the state. They prefer to make their statement on the court. And it is quite a read.

After a convincing 65-32 win over Las Vegas Robertson, the No. 7 team in AAA, on Wednesday, SFIS is showing it is still the team to beat.

So, why the cold shoulder?

Well, suffice it to say, it has nothing to do with the team.

It is with the coach.

Anyone who knows Cindy Roybal, the fourth-year head coach of the program, understands she is confident. In her team. In her coaching ability.

And she's not afraid to say it.

In a profession where most coaches put on a humble front to the masses, keep their true opinions to themselves and fret about anything and everything when it comes to their team, Roybal is the polar opposite.

When SFIS athletic director Tom Shields asked Roybal if she wanted film of the teams she would face at the Nike Interstate Shootout in Portland, Ore., in late December, her response was simple — no.

She wasn't going to see anything new after 35 years of coaching.

Even though the Lady Braves failed to win a game at the tournament, Roybal wasn't caught off guard by what she saw. SFIS had to adapt to a more physical brand of basketball — far more physical than what it will see here.

As the Lady Braves embarked to Las Vegas for their sixth game in nine days, Roybal offered her team a deal — if they beat the Lady Cardinals by 20 points, they would get Thursday and Friday off.

The margin was 33, and her players asked for Saturday as well.

"But we won by only 33," Roybal said. "They needed to win by 40 for the other day."

That brashness — some see it as arrogance — probably has robbed SFIS of votes. But no one remembers who is No. 1 in January (It's Albuquerque Hope Christian, by the way).

If AAA teams really want to send a message to Roybal and SFIS, do it March.

That's when they'll be listening.

Contact James Barron at 986-3045
or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com.