San Marcos opened up the 2023-2024 season in exciting fashion as the Rattlers defeated the San Antonio Southwest Legacy Titans, 63-57, in overtime.
Despite the Rattlers struggles during the game, Head Coach Dan Miller said he was proud of the team for being able to overcome their mistakes and get their first win of the season.
“It was really big,” Miller said. “It’s a long season and we are going to be in moments like that. There are so many different types of games and that was one of those games. Even though I feel like we didn’t play our best game, we found ways to win that game by getting to the free throw line and getting key stops.”
While San Marcos did have mistakes, Miller gave props to the Titans whose zone defense kept the Rattler offense from gaining any momentum.
“First off, credit to the [Southwest Legacy],” Miller said. “They came in and tried to muck up the game by pressing and [playing zone defense] the entire game. They didn’t play us one possession of man defense. Some of the things we like to run were taken away because of what they did. But we need to do a better job of moving and taking care of the ball. We had way too many turnovers tonight, especially when one of our main things we work on is protecting the ball.”
San Marcos found themselves in a 4-0 hole in the first quarter before a 7-0 run put the Rattlers up 7-4. The Titans responded with a 4-0 run to take the lead up 8-7.
But the Rattlers outscored the Titans 6-2 in the remaining first quarter to take the lead heading into the second up 14-10.
The second quarter saw both teams trade the lead back and forth as neither San Marcos or Southwest Legacy were able to put away the opposition.
Following a late score by junior Josiah Hollman, the Rattlers took the lead heading into halftime, up 25-23.
San Marcos opened up the third quarter on fire as the Rattlers outscored the Titans 8-3 during the timespan to take a 33-26 lead.
Southwest Legacy responded by going on a 10-3 run to tie the game up at 36-36.
Despite San Marcos adding a couple of free throws, the Titans hit a three-pointer just before the fourth quarter to take a 39-38 lead.
The Rattlers pulled ahead in the fourth quarter to go up 47-43, but a 7-0 run by the Titans had Southwest Legacy out in front, 51-47, late in the final minute.
But San Marcos failed to give in as junior Cash Good hit the three-point play to make it a one possession game at 51-50. After getting the ball back, Hollman was fouled with just a second remaining before hitting one free throw to tie the game up at 51-51.
The San Marcos defense bowed up and stopped the Titans on their final possession to send the game into overtime.
The momentum flipped in the Rattlers favor as San Marcos rallied to a 63-57 win.
Though Miller said he was happy with the win, the Rattlers have much to learn.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Miller said. “Credit to our opponent, but we didn’t play as we have been playing. We have been playing better in scrimmages than that, but to find a way to win was huge. We have to learn from our lessons.”
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