Head coach Steven Pinchback’s presence remained in the gym even though he wasn't physically there.
Three hours before Friday’s game the players and coaches of San Marcos found out they would be without the captain of the ship. The school released the information shortly before the game tipped-off.
“Coach Pinchback will serve a one game suspension starting tonight. The suspension is a result of Coach Pinchback’s ejection and non-compliance with UIL protocol,” the statement said.
Although their head coach wasn't there, the players remembered the saying their coach brought over from his coaching stint at Desoto.
“He says, ‘Who got your back?’ And we say, ‘I got your back,’ because we're one family, and everybody got each other's back. We’re brothers on the court and off the court,” sophomore forward Malik Presley said. “Tonight we had our coach’s back just like he always has ours.”
Even after being short-handed, San Marcos prevailed 51-48 in another must-win game over Austin Akins (6-15, 2-7 district) inside the Snake Pit.
Beating a team the second time is harder than most tasks. But the boys banded together even more this time around and that was exemplified all throughout the first quarter as five different Rattlers found a way to put the ball through the hoop. You could give credit to everyone for getting open but sophomore guard Kaden Gumbs dazzled the audience by shredding the Eagles’ defense with passes that squeezed through multiple defenders’ hands on two of the first three possessions. Meanwhile, Akins was making it's money at the free throw line, leaving San Marcos with a 10-8 lead.
Gumbs continued to excel at his job description as a point guard by swinging it to sophomore forward Isaiah Deleon, who opened the second quarter with a triple, followed by two made free throws on the next play down, which extended the Rattlers lead to seven. Eagles junior guard Michael Robertson Jr. hit every clutch shot imaginable in the first matchup against San Marcos — this time the team had a better gameplan coming in.
“Well Michael Robertson Jr. shot really well at their place. I think he had six threes. And then we got shot out of the gym on Tuesday against Bowie,” assistant coach Jason Napoli said. “So our emphasis was getting the ball out of shooters’ hands. Anytime the shooter was coming to the ball, or had the ball in his hands, it was coming off some sort of down screen. We were immediately going to get the ball out of his hands or make them uncomfortable and make them shoot over somebody.
“We did a way better job tonight slowing down Robertson. (Junior guards JaiShun) Upton and (Nate) Davis were their main scorers, I think Davis had 14 and Upton had 12 tonight. But a lot of their buckets were because we didn't do a good job blocking out and they got cheap ones in the paint. If we can put it all together and play good team backside defense and block out and get those rebounds and not give teams second chances, we are pretty darn good.”
The purple and white were locked in defensively and Robertson Jr. was held to two first half points but Akins balanced the scoring load between five different players as well. San Marcos again did the same, taking the visitors into halftime with a one-point lead.
After chipping away at the Rattlers’ lead all game, Akins finally went on a run that pushed it ahead. San Marcos lapsed in leaving Robertson Jr. open from the top of the key, falling behind 29-28.
Sophomore forward Malik Presley turned his game up a notch. He blocked an Akins layup, grabbed his own board and believed in junior guard Caleb Williams to deliver. Williams did, canning a 3 and tying the game up at 31-31. The seesaw effect was evident but the Eagles hit a buzzer-beater right before the fourth to give them momentum.
Again, Presley turned his offensive game up with a sweet midrange jump shot and then a nice drive to cut the Eagles’ lead to one. From there, San Marcos hit a two-minute scoring drought. After that, they exploded with a quick 7-0 run with three different players scoring. It was all started by Presley attacking the paint, opening up things for his role players. But he sees it through a different lens than the regular spectator.
“You know, I honestly got to give it off to my teammates because like, if it wasn't for them, I really wouldn't be getting the ball,” Presley said. “Because I know they have opportunities to score but they're very unselfish and they share the ball.”
Down the stretch, it was the defense that locked in, starting up top with Gumbs who forced Akins’ guards to commit four turnovers in the final two minutes of the game. The Eagles scored one bucket in the quarter, leaving the door open for San Marcos to steal the 51-48 win and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Gumbs has been the defensive anchor for his team and he broke down how he's been able to do it all season.
“What I worked on this summer was mainly my lateral movement. And if they beat me, turning and running, opening my hips, that's mainly what I worked on. So I can stop these faster guards,” Gumbs said.
Presley finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gumbs contributed nine points, four assists and four steals in the win.
San Marcos (8-9, 6-6) continues to fight through the gauntlet that this district presents to them with another test against Lake Travis (13-6, 8-4) at home on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
