San Marcos — Teams have figured out how to beat the San Marcos boy’s basketball team and they don’t even have to step on the floor. A size disadvantage haunted the Rattlers once again, as San Marcos fell to Bastrop 76-60 at the Snake Pit.

The Bears’ starting lineup featured three players above six-feet tall and the Rattlers had to change their game plan.

San Marcos couldn’t drive to the hole and shoot high percentage shots, so it resorted to heaving up desperation threes.

The Rattlers had another slow start against Bastrop, falling behind 16-5 after the first quarter. San Marcos guard Aaron Canady said the momentary lapse of focus at the beginning of games hurts the team.

“We always come out [with] bad starts,” Canady said. “We’re always coming out in the second half with bad starts. It’s kind of killing us and putting us in a hole.”

After the Rattlers trailed by as many as 23 in the third quarter, Canady single-handily brought San Marcos within a respectable distance. Canady hit back-to-back three-pointers, pulling the Rattlers within 18 at 54-36. Canady said he was open, so he did what his coach usually tells the team.

“Coach tells us to shoot and be a shooter,” Canady said. “So I just shot ‘em. Fortunately they went in.”

Unfortunately for San Marcos, none of their other shots would fall. The Rattlers’ jumper couldn’t find the net with a GPS.

In the first half, San Marcos shot a combined 8-of-28 from the field. During one stretch in the second quarter, the Rattlers missed eight consecutive shots. San Marcos head coach Rob Shivers said the effort was there from his team, but not the touch.

“We came out hard and playing aggressive,” Shivers said. “We just didn’t make shots. That stretch in the first half where we’re just turning the ball over is ridiculous.”

The stretch to which Shivers was referring was where the Rattlers coughed the Spalding up six times in a row. The turnovers led to easy points going the other way for Bastrop, including two emphatic dunks from David Womack.

The Bears balanced their scoring attack, with three players chipping in 12 points. Bastrop relied on Sedric Martin throughout the first half. The 6-foot-6 center dominated down low, adding four blocks to his 12 points.

Sully Haywood and EJ Fleming were the two others who scored 12 points for the Bears. Both Reshawn Lincoln and Womack added nine. Shivers said Bastrop’s athleticism tormented his team all game.

“We didn’t need the game to be that fast, but we had to play it that fast,” Shivers said. “It’s extended us so much defensively and their guards are so quick and athletic that their baskets in the second half were so easy.”

San Marcos tried to make a game out of it late in the second half, pulling within nine with 3:30 left in regulation. But once again, the shots ricocheted off the rim and Bastrop went on a small run.

The Rattlers also couldn’t convert at the line, draining only 15 of their 34 attempts. Shane McBryde continues to be ice-cold from the stripe, making only one-of-eight shots.

So, a collection of poor shooting from the field and the line, while having a large height disadvantage put San Marcos in a hole. The Rattlers also couldn’t slither out of it since they dug themselves into a deep one early. Canady said the slow starts need to stop with San Marcos.

“We practice hard and we want to play, but we’re just not ready for games coming in,” Canady said. “We aren’t getting ready sooner. We’re just getting ready once the tip goes off. It’s taking too long.”



District 25-5A Boys Basketball

Bastrop 16 24 14 22 — 76

San Marcos 5 16 20 19 — 60



Bastrop (18-7, 3-0) — Sedric Martin 12, EJ Fleming 12, Sully Haywood 12, Reshawn Lincoln 9, David Womack 9, Josiah Monroe 5, Aaron Maddox 4, Carson Spotts 3, Allan Rowe 3, JD Yoder 1

San Marcos (16-8, 1-2) — Aaron Canady 10, Shane McBryde 9, Gentry Contreras 6, Joseph Saldana 6, Lauren Morales 6, Lee Bryant 6, Deshon Johnson 4, Chad Arch 4, Cameron Austin 3, Chris Garcia 2, Jeff Stover 2