Injuries continue to loom over San Marcos’ heads but the Lady Rattlers continue to put together strong outings by utilizing its youth to pick up wins.
Senior guard Kayla Presley continued to battle an ankle injury on Friday, coming off of the bench for the second game in a row — not a familiar spot for a 1,000-point club member. The same went for senior Faith Phillips, who started but was limited to 15 minutes. Although the team’s leaders in minutes played relaxed, their teammates put on a show in a 76-46 routing of Del Valle (6-12, 1-9 district) at home.
Even with the win, junior guard Adelia Pierson seemed to have some pain in her back while freshman guard Bailey Guzman suffered a cut beneath her eye, which she battled through from the second quarter on. After a 2-1 week for the purple and white, nothing is more important than the rest period in between games.
“We’ll take the day off (Saturday). The funny thing is, they really want to be here, and they really want to practice but we have to be the coaches and the adults in the room and, and make that call,” Kendall explained. “We need to give them some time to recover and let their bodies recover and we know how important that is. They want to be here and want to practice but we know they need to let their bodies rest.”
The non-injured players took no time stepping into their roles. Junior guard Angelina Sotelo scored 11 of her 21 points in the first quarter, helping San Marcos snatch a 26-13 lead after the first.
With 2:33 on the clock you could hear Presley lean over to Kendall and say “Bailey needs a sub she got hit in the eye,” but only after she had swished her second triple of the game. The injuries continued but players kept stepping up. By the end of the second quarter, four different Lady Rattlers had eight or more points, a total share of the wealth. Sophomore forward Saylor Upshaw dominated the putback game. With 1:36 left, Upshaw got up to snag another board off of her teammates miss and immediately went right back up and put a cottonelle touch over the front of the rim extending San Marcos’ lead to 27 heading into half.
Upshaw has had a fantastic week of games, averaging 13 points and 6 rebounds over her last two. She’s starting to hit her peak at the right time and it starts with her work on the glass.
“Yes, I take a lot of pride in that, I'm just working really hard on making that one of my goals to at least get 10 boards per game but I've been really just working on getting that,” Upshaw said. “And I've been trying to get my confidence up by just doing what I can to get to the goal, no matter how it is.”
The Lady Rattlers continued to run up the score and the fill-ins kept doing their jobs. Just when you thought the scoring load couldn’t be divided anymore, junior guard Vivian Hernandez lost her conscience from 3, starting with two consecutive 3-pointers from the left corner. Hernandez — who’s known for her shooting — was struggling coming into the game, shooting 26% from the perimeter. She used this contest to improve her confidence heading into the final stretch of games.
“My shots haven't been on this year,” Hernandez said. “So this game I really had a lot of confidence after I hit the first two and the team was just getting hyped and it really got me going. So it's just a big part, especially going from offense to defense, then we get steals and can get us into our offense again.”
Hernandez would end the third with four-straight 3s and in the fourth quarter, the flames stayed on her hands by adding another triple. The defense respected her shooting so she drove the lane while throwing up a circus shot that somehow dropped in. That was the nail in the coffin for a team losing by 40 at the time. The injuries remain a concern, but the way the Lady Rattlers are showing up keeps displaying the talent the team will return to the squad next year.
Sotelo finished with a game-high 21 points and six steals. Hernandez had 14 points off the bench while Upshaw contributed 11 points and six boards with a steal. Guzman dished out four assists to go with her 12 points as well.
Guzman has taken her extended playing time as a learning period from her upperclassman teammate and her starting point guard in Presley.
“I've been learning a lot from Kayla. She's really been helping me with my ball-handling and how to stay composed when it’s a tough situation and stuff like that,” Guzman said. Just being a good point guard and seeing the floor and everything like that. “
San Marcos (11-5, 6-5) will go for its third sweep in district play when they take on Austin Bowie for the second time in six days inside the Snake Pit at 7 p.m. Even though the Lady Rattlers averaged 62.3 points per game, they still are laser-focused on how they can execute offensively. Upshaw touched on the points of emphasis for their success over the last three games.
“They are very important,'' Upshaw said, making sure to emphasize the word very. “Yes, we need to work very hard as a team, specifically one that keeps each other up and together. We need to focus on the little things and not let the other teams get control of our tempo and as long as we slow down the game to our pace. We got it.”
