On Saturday afternoon, No. 11 San Marcos closed out its non-conference schedule in impressive fashion with a 71-41 rout over the Eagle Pass Eagles inside “The Snake Pit.”
The Rattlers’ man-to-man defense helped lead the way to a fast, electric start paced by senior point guard Kaden Gumbs’ 13 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, and six steals.
“Our mindset coming into the game was just to get our 25th W,” Gumbs said. “We knew we were going to win this game. Defensively, we knew they did a lot of cutting, so we tried to limit their curls to get easy baskets and on offense we wanted to get into the middle of their zone and score in the paint.”
In the first quarter, San Marcos jumped out quickly to a 10-2 lead in the first four minutes, causing the Eagles to take an early timeout. The Rattlers continued their hot start in the first quarter, ending the opening frame with a 21-5 advantage.
“I think we came out with great intensity from the start to make sure we could establish a lead,” head coach Dan Miller said. “[Eagle Pass] already beat a team in our district, East Central, so when they get confidence and they showed it in the second half they are not a bad team. So, it was just about us coming out with intensity.”
Through the second quarter, the Rattlers continued to use a balanced attack of getting into the middle of the zone, and getting buckets in the paint paired with their hard-nosed defense.
“Tonight, we looked inside early and that was the key because we knew they were going to zone us,” Miller said. “We don’t just want to take 3-pointers and rely on that. We want to be able to play inside and out.”
The Rattlers continued to share the ball through the first half as senior forward Malik Presley chipped in with three assists in the second quarter to senior forward Mateus Perkins finding him at the rim.
“We practice every day that is instilled in us by Coach Miller,” Gumbs said. “We want to pass up a good shot for a great shot.”
San Marcos took a 41-11 lead into the break as Gumbs, Presley and Perkins all had double figures in scoring. For the game, Presley ended with a game-high 22 points with Perkins chipping in with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Eagle Pass was able to gain some confidence in the second half by shooting better from behind the arc and at the free throw line. But San Marcos was still in control throughout and cruised to the lopsided win.
“I thought the third quarter was really the only quarter we got a little out of character and a little loose with the ball,” Miller said. “That is going to happen at times when you have big leads, but we have to guard against that from happening. Once we reset it after the timeout in the third, we got back on track.”
The Rattlers prepare this week for the start of District 27-6A play against the Clemens Buffaloes coming to San Marcos on Friday at 7 p.m.
