BACK TO BACK

Panthers capture their second consecutive state championship

After winning the state championship last season, the San Marcos Homeschool Panthers faced the challenge of doing what few teams have accomplished, winning back to back state championships. Needless to say, the Panthers passed with flying colors.

Behind the combined effort of senior Madison Hurta, Kayla Johns-Mc-Garrity, Kendall Beck, Emily Genovese and Averie Pena, San Marcos Homeschool ran through the Texas State Homeschool Basketball Championship bracket to win the second straight state championship.

“It’s a really good accomplishment,” Hurta said. “After winning the first state championship, you have a bigger target on your back. … Knowing you now have a target on your back gives us more motivation to run it back and give it all we can on the court. We don’t think about having a target, we just get on the court like we always play.”

The Panthers finished the regular season with a 22-4 record playing some of the toughest teams in the state from the public school to private school.

San Marcos Homeschool non-district schedule included San Antonio Brennan, Southlake Carroll, Navarro, East Central, Fredericksburg, Mansfield Summit, La Vernia, and St. Michaels.

But despite the difficult schedule, the Panthers pulled through.

“There were a lot of teams that doubted us,” Johns-McGarrity said. “They were saying negative stuff, and the fact we came out on top says a lot.”

A factor the Panthers used to their advantage was being confident in themselves in not only being the defending state champs but also having multiple players set to play at the collegiate level.

“Our confidence level was higher,” Beck said. “We were more mature than a lot of the teams we played. We have college athletes that are on our team, and we are coached like a college team. That is the expectation, and we live up to those expectations.”

Another strength the Panthers had was their arsenal of returners, as the majority of the players were on last year’s state championship winning team.

“Last season, we had more of a drive,” Johns-McGarrity said. “Everyone was learning to still play with each other as a team, because everyone was new. This year, the difference was that we were stronger as a team.”

Because of the familiarity with everyone on the team, the mission and goals for the Panthers were the same.

“We all had the same end goal in mind,” Pena said. “We are coming together and coming back to win together, which was amazing.”

In turn, San Marcos' familiarity with one another was also strengthened.

“Our chemistry has improved,” Hurta said. “We have been playing for a while, and we added a couple of new players over the past two years. We just clicked, and we are friends both on and off the court. That helps us really challenge one another as both players and friends.”

However, San Marcos also faced their share of challenges.

One of the challenges the Panthers faced this season was the fact they did not have a deep roster with only nine players.

To counter this, San Marcos adjusted their play.

“We didn’t have as deep of a bench as we did last year,” Hurta said. “We had to learn how to conserve energy on the court playing those hard teams but also keep that same energy, knowing when to take breaks, which offenses to run to give us breaks and taking a break during free throws.”

Another was the fact the Panthers were not coming into the season completely healthy while playing a rigorous schedule.

“One of the things that has made it hard is dealing with injuries from last year,” Genovese said. “Some of us have been recovering from injuries and having games back to back can make things a little difficult.”

As the Panthers entered the state tournament bracket, San Marcos knew they needed their best effort and play in order to complete win back to back state championships.

“It was going to take us doing what we do best,” Hurta said. “Playing at a fast pace with a lot of intensity from the start and avoiding slow starts.”

San Marcos then ran through the state tournament culminating in the Panthers defeating Christian Homeschool Sports Ministries Crimson Knights 69-66 to capture the title.

It’s been a journey for the Panther seniors who spent the first couple of seasons fighting their way to just make the finals let alone win the state championship.

“We had our turn of not being in the championship game,” Hurta said. “We have always been in third place or fourth. Now our hard work has paid off. We are winning these tournaments with the right girls, team and coaches.”

After winning the state championship, San Marcos won the National Homeschool Basketball Championship Big South Regional title to advance to the National Tournament.

The Panthers will look to defend their national championship in Springfield, Missouri on March 10-15.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc