A 14-year-old made a major home debut for San Marcos
Just a week removed from being named to the Cedar Creek All-Tournament Team, freshman forward Malik Presley put on a show in his first home game as a Rattler. Presley’s lone three-point attempt dropped from the corner, giving San Marcos a 41-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter as the crowd chanted, “He’s a freshman,” with claps in between circulating around the gym. Presley continued to light up the scoreboard all night. His game-high 24 points and seven rebounds led his team to a 63-54 win over San Antonio Alamo Heights Friday night inside the Snake Pit.
“I was just attacking the gap,s getting into the paint, not really shooting a lot of outside shots because they were slower,” Presley said. “So just driving by and finishing at the rim.”
It was aggressive from the opening tip-off. Both teams were dedicated to getting good looks within 15 feet of the basket. Alamo Heights took more of a pass-happy approach juxtaposed by San Marcos’ ability to beat defenders off the dribble and attack open lanes for high percentage looks at the rim.
The visitors opened up in a 2-3 zone, forcing the Rattlers to either shoot from the outside or find the middle of the defense where Presley stood cemented to the floor. As soon as he caught it, he faced the big man in the middle, ripped under the defender’s hands, and got the bucket to go on the drive making it 5-4 with Alamo Heights leading.
It was nip-and-tuck the whole first half but the Mules had the advantage at the end of two, 29-25.
Assistant coach Jason Napoli believes the dynamic of the game changed during halftime, which you could tell from the defensive intensity the purple and white came out with to start the third.
“When we sat in front of a calm group of kids and they said ‘I got you coach,’” said Napoli. “We said to take advantage of your opportunities. We left too many opportunities in the first half on missed layups, not rotating and communicating on defense and they fixed that in the second half. We go on our run, we take the lead, we’re in control, now we have everything.”
Freshman Kaden Gumbs used his bounce to get a steal out of the air, then it was off to the races with Presley cutting on his right side. Gumbs dished it off with a bounce pass that landed in the racing-Presley’s hands for the layup. Senior Charlie Dewitt sunk back-to-back three’s for the Mules each time the Rattlers scored, stealing the lead back at 35-33. Presley responded with a three-ball of his own before the quarter ended, which got a response from the crowd that could be heard from San Antonio.
San Marcos clinched the win in the final three minutes of the game with superb defense from Gumbs and senior guard Sam Johnson. The pair picked up consecutive steals in the final stretch of the game sparking a 6-0 run which put the team up 53-45 with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter. The visitors tried hitting 3s to cut into the lead, but the pressured deemed too much as the Rattlers grabbed the 63-54 win, making them 2-0 at home this season.
With win No. 9 in the books, Johnson explained what the main difference from last season to this one was in one word.
“Energy,” Johnson said. “Energy and just willing to buy in and sell out for the team. We sell out, we get the job done and we don’t care who’s in. (The) coaches taught us that. We don’t care who’s in as long as we get the dub and that wasn’t there last year. And just having a new coaching staff and everyone coming in it brought new energy, new life.”
Senior guard CJ Valencia finished with 9 points, followed by senior guard Josh DeLeon with eight points and a rebound. Gumbs stuffed the stat sheet. The freshman had four points to go with his seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Presley’s debut will be remembered in San Marcos and the crowd let him know it. At 14 years old, he’s aware of the support that the fans brought while chanting his classification as he exited the floor.
“I hear it and take it in,” said Presley, smiling. “It’s like fuel for me to keep going and going because I love playing against older guys, it's fun.”
San Marcos (9-5) will have a week off before returning to the hardwood against Laredo Lyndon B. Johnson (12-4) inside the Snake Pit at 7 p.m. on Dec. 20. The Rattlers will look to match their win total of 10 games from last season behind the support of their crowd.
“I love it,” Pinchback said. “We need more of it. We need the crowd. We need everybody. It takes a community to have success. It’s not just about us and the boys, it's the whole community, so we need that for sure.”
