SMHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
RATTLED
In a battle for sole possession of second place in District 29, the Lady Rattlers pulled off the upset, beating the No. 11 Cibolo Steele 54-47 to stay perfect at the Snake Pit.
The win improves San Marcos’ overall record to 19-6 and their district record to 5-1.
“This win really proves what we are capable of,” junior power forward Melayna Perkins said. People looking at [the game], they’re like ‘Oh Steele got this’.
People always underestimate. We just took that, and we played it all on the court.
“We worked harder, and we wanted it more. So I think that proves to us what we’re really capable of doing.”
Following a tough loss to Judson, the Lady Rattlers wanted to prove that the defeat to the No. 1 ranked team in the state was just a fluke.
After the win against Steele, junior small forward Azariah Fennell talked about how the win gives the team confidence for their rematch against Judson.
“Coming out with that tough loss against Judson, that left a bad taste in our mouth,” Fennell said. “We understood that if we wanted to be second or at least compete for first in our district, we had to come out and beat Steele. Steele is not only one of our bigger competitions, so is Judson.
“Now that we know we can play to that level, we know next time what we need to do to play Judson.”
From the opening tipoff, the Lady Rattlers jumped all over Steele. San Marcos jumped out to a 8-0 lead over the Knights, which forced Steele to take a timeout.
The Lady Rattlers outscored Cibolo Steele 17-6 in the first quarter behind San Marcos’ trademark defense. San Marcos never trailed the Knights during the entire game. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Rattlers led 17-6.
“It’s important for us to start understanding that we have to punch people in the mouth early,” senior point guard Ezra Tobias said. “We didn’t wanna get so far behind that we couldn’t get back [in the game].”
Despite their lead against Steele, the Lady Rattlers knew Steele was going to come back motivated and give San Marcos their best shot.
For Fennell, the key for the Lady Rattlers in maintaining their lead against Steele was taking the game one play at a time.
“We knew that we had take it little by little,” Fennell said. “We couldn’t all just think about the first quarter and what the fourth quarter is going to look like. We had to take second by second, and then understand that sometimes calls aren’t gonna go our way.
“At the end of the day, we just have to keep playing and be who we are.”
Steele was able to make a one possession game at 21-18 halfway through the second quarter only for San Marcos to close out the period 7-2 run to enter halftime up 28-20.
The third quarter was similar to the second quarter where Steele again made it a one-possession game only for San Marcos to respond with a big run to extend their lead. The back and forth between the two teams ended with the Lady Rattlers leading the Knights 40-37 going into the fourth quarter.
Lady Rattlers again pushed their lead to 4437 before Steele again made it a one possession game at 44-41.
However, it was the last time Steele cut San Marcos’ lead down to one possession. On the next possession, freshman guard Rileigh Good hit a critical three-pointer to push the lead to 47-41.
Forced to foul late in the game, Steele sent the Lady Rattlers to the free throw line as San Marcos’ clutch shooting sealed the win at 54-47.
The win marked the first time the Lady Rattlers defeated the Knights since the 2014-2015 season.
Tobias led the team in scoring with 19 points followed by Perkins with 13 points.
“I’m extremely proud of the girls and their ability to overcome adversity again and again,” Head Coach Cooper Haralson said. “Basketball being in a game of runs, that second quarter of [Steele] going on a six to eight run right off the bat, they’re speeding us up, and we’re throwing the ball away just to recover from that and push the lead back up there.
“Whatever you wanna give the credit and everything, that goes directly to the girls and just the way they play on. I’m just so proud of them.”
San Marcos returns to play Friday, starting the second round of district. The Lady Rattlers will be back on the road to face New Braunfels Canyon. The Cougarettes are coming off a 70-30 loss to No. 1 Judson last Friday night. In their last meeting, San Marcos defeated Canyon 61-52 in the district opener.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Canyon High School.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
San Marcos starts the second round of district play Friday night on the road against the New Braunfels Canyon Cougarettes. The Lady Rattlers defeated the Cougarettes 61-52 in the district opener. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
