Richard Martinez always has accepted the challenges of coaching at Espanola (N.M.) Valley High - a school that draws from working-class neighborhoods and has high dropout and substance-abuse rates.

His coaching, including an insistence on discipline and character, has turned the school into one of the best in New Mexico. But it hasn't come without conflict from a fan base that is passionate about basketball.

Martinez wonders if an apparent attempt to set fire to his house Wednesday night while he was at a game - but his 83-year-old wheelchair-bound mom was at home - is an attack by locals. But he insists he won't be deterred.

"I am not going to worry about it," Martinez told the Santa Fe New Mexican (read its story here). "We're just going to drive forward. If somebody wants to get me or not, I am going forward."

According to Lt. Christian Lopez of the Espanola Police Department, the fire occurred around 8 p.m. When the fire department arrived, they found Frutosa Martinez resting on the couch.

"She tried to douse the flames out from under the door," she said. "She just got tired. When the fire department was surveying the house, they saw her sitting on the couch."

Lopez said damage to the house was limited, but that Frutosa Martinez was sent to Espanola Hospital, where she was treated for smoke inhalation.

The police, Lopez said, are investigating the incident as arson. An initial investigation indicated an accelerant was used.

The incident came days after Martinez suspended three players for a violation of team rules. It's unclear if the two incidents are related, but Lopez said it is being examined and that the potential connection has been noted.

"There's a lot of coincidence in that," he said. "Those people obviously are at the top of the list. Until we rule them out, they are included in the investigation."

Lopez, however, warned that the players are not the only part of the investigation.

"Everyone assumes kids were kicked off the team so they are after the coach," he said. "We need to look beyond that and not just focus totally on that. Anything's possible."

Martinez, in his seventh year as Espanola, has compiled a 125-60 record. This year's team is 14-1 and ranked No. 2 in the state.

The team has entered the Class AAAA state tournament as the top seed the past two seasons, only to be upset in the state semifinals.

Those losses did not go over well with the fan base.

In 2009, Espanola was upset in triple-overtime (after blowing a big lead in regulation). Following the game, unruly fans threw water bottles and cups onto the court in an incident the police needed to intercede, according to NMPreps.com - the RivalsHigh site for New Mexico.

Espanola is nestled between the Jemez and Sanre De Cristo Mountains, roughly 25 miles north of Santa Fe. It has a population of just under 10,000. Espanola Valley High has one of the state's highest dropout rates (7.3 percent) and the town has the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in the country since 2004.

Despite this, Martinez has thrived at the school. And he insists he'll carry on, but he can't help but wonder how this latest incident will impact his mother.

"My mom probably won't be the same with a tragedy like this because of the mental stress for a lady of her stature," he told the paper. "This is detrimental to myself and my family. It's just hard for something like this to happen."

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