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Among the people who have coached high school girls basketball in Albuquerque, or have coached in an Albuquerque-adjacent zip code, the only person standing .
Familiarity was part of the transition within the Cibola High School girls basketball program.
Joe Sena on Monday was named the Cougars new head coach, as he takes over from Lori Mabrey. Sena had two stints on Mabrey’s coaching staff before this promotion.
“Very, very tough shoes to fill,” Sena, 53, said.
He was an assistant at Cibola from 2007-2015 before he left to become Bosque School’s head coach.
But he returned two years ago, and now he inherits the reins from Mabrey, who stepped down earlier this month after leading Cibola to five state championship games, including a state title in 2015.
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Cibola coach Lori Mabrey gives instructions to Kavionna Brown (1) during her team’s game against Mayfield in the girls Class 6A state tournament Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center in 2015. Mabrey has announced her resignation from the position. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)
A state championship-winning head coach in the metro area has resigned.
After leading the program to five state championship games over 15 seasons on the West Side, Cibola High School girls basketball coach Lori Mabrey is leaving that position, Mabrey told the Journal on Tuesday.
She led Cibola to the then-Class 6A state championship in 2015, where the Cougars defeated La Cueva in the final.