Maddox out at Mesa

Nichole Maddox has resigned as Costa Mesa High girls’ basketball coach after six seasons, she confirmed Tuesday.

Maddox informed the Costa Mesa High administration three weeks ago, after the end of summer league.

“I felt like it was it was time for me to move on from Costa Mesa,” Maddox said. “The timing was right to move in a different direction. You just kind of feel like it’s time to look for a new adventure, wherever it may be.”

Maddox, who is a substitute teacher, said she has a few coaching opportunities on the table but is trying to decide if she wants to take some time off from coaching.

The Mustangs were 76-86 during Maddox’s six seasons in charge. Mesa stayed competitive in the Orange Coast League with two second-place finishes and three third-place finishes, but never won a league title.

In terms of wins, the most recent 2014-15 season was the worst in Maddox’s tenure, as Costa Mesa went 8-19 and 3-7 in league. It was the first time in Maddox’s tenure that the Mustangs failed to qualify for the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

The Mustangs also lost the Battle for the Bell series to rival Estancia in five of the six seasons. But Maddox, 32, said her decision went beyond wins and losses.

“The kids at Costa Mesa are great,” said Maddox, who was also the school’s softball coach in 2010 and 2011. “That was the hardest thing that I had to weight out, if I wanted to leave the girls, because I love the kids. They worked hard for me. Even when we didn’t have the talent, they still put out tremendous effort.”

Costa Mesa Athletic Director Sharon Uhl said that several applications for the position have been submitted and she would like to conduct interviews next week, with the hiring panel also including booster parents and members of the girls’ basketball team.

“We definitely want to have somebody in place when school starts, or shortly thereafter,” Uhl said. “We’re looking for somebody that’s energetic and wanting to start building this program.”

Uhl pointed to the fact that there were just two girls’ basketball teams at Costa Mesa last year, a varsity team and a freshman team.

“We need to get those numbers back up where they used to be,” she said.