No. 9 San Marcos took the top spot in District 27-6A after defeating the New Braunfels Unicorns in a thrilling 66-54 win on Tuesday night.
The purple and white hosted the rival Unicorns in a critical district matchup where both teams entered the night 3-0. San Marcos started the game red hot with a dominant first quarter, outscoring the Unicorns 21-8. Despite the quick start, the Unicorns remained in the fight until the fourth quarter. Head Coach Dan Miller recognized the defensive adjustments made by New Braunfels but was pleased with how the team responded.
“In the second quarter they went into zone and you know we got to make shots and it’s part of basketball,” Miller said. “I thought we got a little stagnant at times in the second quarter, and to their credit, they’re a good team and they showed that tonight. But I was happy when we punched first and they punched back, we were able to finish tonight and that’s what our team’s been doing all season.”
New Braunfels arrived at the Snake Pit ranked inside the top 30 in conference 6A. The blue and white currently have their most wins since the 2019-20 season proving their dominance within the district. Senior guard Kaden Gumbs prepared for the tough matchup, however, believes his team is prepared for any challenge.
“We preach toughness in our program so we just gotta go strong and make our shots,” Gumbs said. “We’re going to get everybody’s best game. New Braunfels put up a good fight, but we ended up coming with a dub.”
San Marcos now extends its winning streak to 23 in a row following the win. Friday night the Rattlers escaped a scare, where they narrowly defeated Converse Judson 68-66. Miller believes his team has the ability to close out tight games, but attention to detail helped provide an assertive win against the Unicorns on Tuesday.
“If we get in those tight games we can draw on experience because we’ve had those,” Miller said. “So we do know how to win those close games. Obviously if we can avoid that by winning double digits, we’re going to do everything we can. I just thought we just stayed ahead of them tonight. We turned them over a lot and our defense is ultimately what won us that game. Defending the three-point line and just creating turnovers and then taking those turnovers and scoring some points off them.”
Tuesday night also featured a win for everyone in attendance as the Rattlers completed the Cane’s Challenge. In the final 30 seconds San Marcos had a chance to complete the challenge, when sophomore guard Cash Good went to the line. Good missed both free throws, however, made up for the miss with a layup in the final five seconds to win the crowd free Raising Cane’s.
“I was sprinting back,” Good said. “ I realized I missed the two free throws, so I was like, hold on everybody gonna be mad at me. Gotta make up for this so sprinted back, got the rebound and went up.”
San Marcos will be back in action Friday night when it visits the East Central Hornets. The matchup against the Hornets will kick off a three-game road trip.
