San Marcos drops defensive battle against Cougarettes

NEW BRAUNFELS — San Marcos grinds on defense. New Braunfels Canyon does, too.

The two defensive stalwarts met in New Braunfels on Friday night for their second district game of the season. There were a lot of similarities to their first matchup on Dec. 14, 2018 — the tempo was slow, the turnovers were abundant and the score was low.

But unlike last time, the Cougarettes came out with the victory, beating the Lady Rattlers, 35-29.

“We knew it was going to be a grind,” head coach Veronda Kendall said. “I just felt like we had a hard time scoring. I think that we would’ve liked for it to be easier to score. But it was not easy to score.” 

Junior center Grace Latham scored the opening basket of the game two minutes in on a post feed from freshman guard Vivian Hernandez, but the visitors wouldn’t score again until the final 10 seconds of the quarter. The hosts went on an 8-0 run before Hernandez found junior wing Miranda Lamb behind the arc for a trey.

The Lady Rattlers switched to a full-court press in the second quarter and only gave up three points in the period. Still, the team struggled on offense. Latham dropped in another layup and freshman forward Chelsea Williams sank a free throw to cut the lead down to three points. 

On the final possession of the half, Latham dribbled across the lane and found Hernandez open on the wing. The freshman canned the triple at the buzzer to tie the game, 11-11.

“They’re patient. They’re disciplined. They work hard like we do,” Kendall said. “I’d just like to see us be a little more physical on the offensive side of the ball when teams play us in that tough man-to-man like that.”

Both offenses found their rhythms in the third quarter. A steal and score by the Cougarettes gave them a six-point advantage, but the Rattlers cut it down to two with layups coming from Latham and sophomore forward Faith Phillips.

Leading 23-21, Canyon locked back in defensively in the fourth quarter. San Marcos couldn’t do the same. Phillips drove in for another basket to tie the game back up at the start the period, but the hosts responded with an 11-2 run. The Lady Rattlers tried to preserve the clock in the final minute of the game, but couldn’t come up with enough shots to make a comeback. The Cougarettes took the win, 35-29.

“I felt like we were a little hesitant defensively tonight,” Kendall said. “Like we were sitting on our heels a little bit and not getting after them. So, we’ve got to be ready for the moment and play a little more looser, a little more comfortable, a little more relaxed.”

Latham led the team with 10 points, followed by Lamb with seven and Phillips with five.

San Marcos (19-13, 3-6 district) will look to bounce back when it heads to San Antonio on Tuesday to face East Central (5-22, 0-9). Kendall wasn’t sure why her team seemed hesitant, but was hopeful they would be able to correct the issue in the next game.

“For our younger guys, this was a big moment for them,” Kendall said. “I don’t know. I wish I could pinpoint it.”