San Marcos head coach Veronda Kendall’s clipboard was drenched in black dry erase marker ahead of the matchup against school rival Buda Hays. It was a game plan with things that the team needed to be prepared for if the moment arose. As Kendall said “it’s just options on options on options — a play card.”
Senior guard Kayla Presley opened the second half with a triple from the right corner inside the Snake Pit. After that, the execution fell silent as that was the last time the Lady Rattlers would score in the quarter. With 2:50 left in the period, senior forward Trista Strasser made being tall look easy with a follow-up layup, taking the lead for Hays.
Junior shooting guard Adelia Pierson contributed in every way in the fourth. This time she found her stroke from deep and let off an arrow in her defender's face. Sotelo shook her defender and put it high off the glass giving San Marcos a 33-32 lead. It was a tough night for San Marcos from the free throw line, going 6-16, but the team sank three foul shots in the final minute to secure the first win in district play, 38-32.
Sometimes the best execution is letting your playmakers play freely. Presley finally can take a breath of air after the game.
“It feels relieving like we know that we could have won those first two games and it's like we're finally playing back to the way we know we could play,” Presley said.
Early on, Hays (8-4, 1-1 district) threw plenty of looks at San Marcos (5-2, 1-2). The hosts, for the most part, contained their composure through its struggles offensively. The visitors switched into man-to-man after halftime throwing a curveball at its rivals. It took until the fourth quarter to figure out but the Lady Rattlers solved beating the defense they were faced with.
“That honestly opened the floor up a lot for us because we know our guards are quicker and could get to the basket faster. That obviously helped a lot,” Pierson said.
Hays’ gameplan was obvious: get the ball to 6-foot-4 Strasser in the middle of San Marcos’ paint and let her make something happen. The senior had nine first half points but the defense held tight limiting her to six points in the second half.
Presley described how it felt playing against Hays, who they will see one more time before the season is over.
“It definitely felt like the rival game, it was very aggressive. There were a lot of hands, a lot of pushing, a lot of talking and I'm just proud that we pushed through, and to rise up against that.”
Pierson filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Presley shared a team-high with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks.
After the game Kendall mentioned the team never really got the ability to work on everything they needed to with no pre-season followed by being placed on a 14-day quarantine two games in. They haven’t hit peak form in the game but still being able to edge this game out signifies their ability to kick their play into another gear. It’s going to be the standard for four quarters.
San Marcos gets a week in between games to work on all the minor kinks in its playing style — Conditioning, offensive execution, and sustaining consistency throughout a full game — all things Kendall has mentioned the team can work on.
The next time the purple and white touch the floor is Friday, Dec. 28, against San Antonio Christian inside the Snake Pit at 6:15 p.m.
