By Randy Stevens

They’re young, and by the looks of Tuesday night’s season-opening win over Austin-Crockett, they can gun too.

Early 3-pointers helped the Rattlers secure a 66-48 win at the Snake Pit, in a game that SMHS controlled throughout.

Four of San Marcos’ first five baskets were 3-pointers, the first coming from senior guard Chris Threadgill. Hunter Burttschell followed with another trey from the top-left side of the key, as Threadgill added another minutes later to help give the Rattlers an early 11-7 lead.

“We came out shooting the ball really well and it made a huge difference against their zone when we came out knocking shots down,” SMHS head coach Rob Shivers said.

But the Cougars stayed close in the initial period thanks to 3-pointers from Oby Ugaolo and Tevin Shedd, allowing the Cougars to take a 14-11 lead.

But Josh Juarez made sure the lead was short-lived when he canned a 3-pointer from the left corner. It was San Marcos’ fourth trey of the quarter.

“Sometimes, when a team comes out and hits early shots like that, it can rattle a young team,” Shivers said. “But I thought the kids remained composed and stayed focused on the things we needed to do.”

That particularly showed in the second quarter, as the Rattlers’ defense made it tough for Shedd and Ugaolo to shoot from outside, while the Snakes’ zone defense did a good job making sure Crockett didn’t get many easy baskets.

San Marcos held a 36-26 lead at the half after sophomore guard Allex Austin came through with a steal and ran uncontested a fast-break lay-up as time expired.

The Rattlers’ shooting and execution in the second half seemed to struggle when compared to the first, but the Rattlers were still able to extend their lead to 51-35 going into the final quarter. The play of the third period came from Austin, as the six-foot, three-inch sophomore slammed home a powerful dunk on a fast break, bringing the home crowd to its feet.

San Marcos extended its lead to as many as 20 points in the final period, allowing Shivers to get almost everyone into the game. JD Shearer closed out the game for the Rattlers with a pair of inside baskets, as a total of 10 different players posted points in the win.

Austin led the Rattlers with 13, while Threadgill followed with 12. Juarez scored nine, while Gardner and Collin Hart threw in eight points each.

While the Rattlers benefited from the 3-pointer Tuesday night, Shivers said his team will develop into a more inside-out offense.

“Our emphasis is probably going to be more playing inside,” Shivers said. “We missed a lot of easy inside shots and that was because it was the first game. We make those and the difference is even bigger.”

San Marcos is back in action Friday night with a 7:30 p.m. home game against Cibolo-Steele.

Boys High School Basketball

Crockett (0-1) 16 10 9 13 — 48

SMHS (1-0) 19 17 15 15 — 66

San Marcos — Allex Austin 13, Chris Threadgill 12, Josh Juarez 9, Colin Hart 8, D.J. Gardner 8, Hunter Burttschelle 4, JD Shearer 4, Josh Brown 3, Dylan Garcia 3, Warren Evans 2.

Crockett — Tevin Shedd 19, Oby Ugaolo 11.

Next — Steele at San Marcos, Friday, 7:30 p.m.