Rattlers' 16 steals lead to 74-59 win over Wolves

The San Marcos Rattlers are thieves.

Laredo LBJ walked into the Snake Pit averaging 71.9 points per game, most of them stemming from its full-court press. But San Marcos was prepared to play defense all night. The Rattlers stole the ball 16 times, leading to multiple fastbreak opportunities at the rim. Freshman forward Malik Presley paced the team with five steals and three other Rattlers added multiple steals to the stat sheet on the way to a 74-59 win at home against the Wolves.

“I just thought we kind of jumped on them a little bit. They’re a good team that is like (17-7) so (LBJ head coach Jose Ojeda) does a good job,” head coach Steven Pinchback said. “They made a run so I told the guys once they got it to five, ‘This is a game of runs. A good team is gonna make a run. They made theirs. We’re a good team. Let’s make ours.’ And they got my back.”

Before the crowd could settle down in their seats, Presley got the first steal of the game, taking it coast-to-coast and finished over two defensive players at the rim for a layup. Senior guard Sam Johnson was a spark plug off the bench for the purple and white, sinking a layup, picking a ball-handlers pocket on the next trip down and throwing ahead to senior guard Josh DeLeon for the score and a 17-12 lead just before the first-quarter buzzer.

Something lit a fire under the Rattlers in the second quarter. The full-court press flustered the Laredo guards in the backcourt, with traps set in the corners and the middleman roaming down the hardwood for interceptions like an NFL safety. The hosts forced six turnovers over a three-minute stretch, igniting a 10-0 run. The Wolves scored in the final seconds of the quarter, making it 37-27 at intermission.

“Getting the steals just tired them out. Trying to catch up to us built up a whole lot of momentum,” sophomore forward Nathan Henry said. “The crowd was going wild, the team was going wild. There was a lot of layup opportunities for us to score and up the lead.” 

The visitors outscored the Rattlers 20-14 out of the break, by serving the hosts a taste of their own medicine. Steals in the backcourt depleted the 10-point lead to two with 1:10 remaining in the third. Johnson increased the lead back to four before the break with a layup over the middle.

Freshman guard Kaden Gumbs failed to convert a fastbreak dunk attempt early in the final quarter, but got the chance to make up for it. Gumbs got the ball in transition and ripped it through the rim to seal the game 74-59, flexing to letting the crowd know it was over.

The freshman didn’t know he’d get the chance to redeem himself but it came at the perfect time.

“(The dunk gave me) momentum,” said Gumbs. “That really got me up there. I was like ‘Let me punch this real quick.’”

Presley finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Gumbs followed with 10 points of his own. Henry had nine to go with his strong performance off the bench.

San Marcos (10-5) tied its win total of 10 games last season and is a flawless 3-0 at home. The Rattlers travel to Waco next weekend for the Mt. Rice Tournament, lasting Dec. 26-28. The team continues to stress the importance of rebounding and eliminating their opponent’s extra looks at the rim.

“If we can eliminate the 10 offensive rebounds we’re giving up a game, everything will work out,” assistant coach Jason Napoli said. “That’s 10 more possessions we’ll have, 10 less possessions they’ll have. With the way we play and we’re getting after it and being aggressive, that’s 10-20 points a game swing. And that just really important to us right now.”