The San Marcos Boys Basketball team pulled away from Austin LASA in the fourth quarter to secure a 51-46 victory.
The Raptors kept pace with San Marcos through the first three quarters of the game, but eventually the Rattlers’ athleticism and physicality proved too much for LASA.
“First off, credit to Austin LASA–they’re a tough team–we watched them play before us at the Frost Bank Center and they gave Liberty Hill [a tough performance] and lost by two in a very close game,” head coach Dan Miller said. “We’ve been watching them on film and we knew they had an excellent player [in] number five. They came out and they punched early and we got down by nine. We had to work our way out of a hole. A lot of things to learn from tonight, but I’m proud of the guys for finding a way. Sometimes in these types of games, you've got to just grit it out. It’s not going to look pretty, but you just got to find a way at the end when that scoreboard reads zero and that you have more points than them, and that’s what we did tonight. It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way and got the win.”
The Raptors came out of the gates and caused some disruption to the San Marcos offense, forcing turnovers and converting in transition to gain a 14-7 lead early. Not only was LASA (7-5) able to hold their advantage for the rest of the quarter, but they also converted on a buzzer- beating half-court heave off the glass to head to the second with a 19-12 lead.
LASA’s success continued into the next quarter, as the Raptors maintained their defensive pressure on San Marcos’ offense and built their lead up to 23-14 midway through the period. That’s when the Rattlers implemented their full-court press–and immediately went on an 8-0 run off the back of turnovers and big buckets from junior forward Josiah Hollman that cut LASA’s lead to 23-22 before half.
“It’s just ball security. Our first [pillar] in our core values of our program is to value the basketball and not turn it over–it’s value the basketball and protect the ball,” Miller said. “We’re not doing it this year the way we should be. So I think in the first quarter we had six turnovers and it just led to a lot of points and it takes away our chance to score the basketball. We just have to protect the ball, and it just starts with focus. It starts with just being tough, two handed and not making excuses about it. Just getting it done. And that’s what we have to do. So thankfully we found a way to win despite turning it over like that.”
The third quarter was a back and forth eight minutes, with only nine points being scored between the two squads halfway through the period. Both sides sent each other to the line and were finding their buckets in transition rather than half-court sets, but weren’t able to get out in front of each other leading to a 33-33 score heading to the fourth.
That’s when San Marcos (11-4) finally found its groove in the game. The Rattlers jumped out to a 40-33 lead in the first three minutes of the quarter, and continued to build on their advantage by suffocating the Raptors’ offense. The Rattlers built their lead to 49-37 over the next three minutes, with junior guard Donavan Riddick scoring off the dribble and at the line.
Despite a handful of free throws and a clutch three late in the quarter from the Raptors, the Rattlers secured the 51-46 victory in the final two minutes of the game.
“Donavan and Josiah being aggressive and going to the rim was the difference for us in the fourth. That’s what we said at halftime, you know, we were shooting a lot of threes. I hope we become a very good shooting team, but right now we’re an up and down shooting team. When we’re hitting we’re pretty good, but we can also go cold. And we were cold that first half,” Miller said. “So when you can’t win that way, you've got to find another way. What we said is our way (to win) is going to be in the paint and we’re going to get that ball and we’re gonna attack the rim. I thought Donavan and Josiah both got shots in the paint at the rim in transition, and I think that got us on the scoreboard and some momentum.”
San Marcos returns to the Snake Pit for a matchup with Laredo LBJ (7-9) on Dec. 12 at 6:30 p.m. The Rattlers will look to build their winning streak to four games against the Wolves.
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