Lady Rattlers fall to No. 21 ranked Judson in thrilling 62-59 showdown

SMHS GIRLS BASKETBALL

Perkins scores a new career high 33 points

In another thrilling game, San Marcos gave the No. 21 ranked Converse Judson Rockets all they had but ultimately fell short in the Lady Rattlers’ 62-59 loss.

The defeat gives San Marcos their first district loss of the season, dropping their record to 16-8 and 4-1 in district play while Judson improves to 22-5 and 4-1 in district play.

“We kept fighting regardless of the situation,” Head Coach Cooper Haralson said. “But we absolutely have to be better defensively. We had numerous breakdowns, especially in the third quarter. I think they put up 28 points in the third quarter. The fact that the game was as close as it was, and they put up 28 points in the third quarter [shows that] shouldn’t have been the situation in the first place.”

The Lady Rattlers led 5-2 in the first quarter before a 5-0 run by the Rockets put Judson ahead 10-5. San Marcos closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run highlighted by a last-second layup from senior Melayna Perkins to tie the game at 12-12.

The second quarter continued to be a battle as the Lady Rattlers found themselves down 20-14. Back-to-back three-pointers from junior shooting guard Rileigh Good tied the game before the Lady Rattlers went on a 13-0 run to lead at halftime 27-20.

Judson stormed out to a 17-2 run in the third quarter to lead 37-29 but San Marcos answered with a 10-2 run, tying the game up at 3939.

The Rockets closed out the third quarter on a 9-2 run to enter the fourth quarter up 48-41.

Haralson went over the Lady Rattlers’ third quarter struggles and how the team needs to be better at execution.

“It’s things like that where we just got to do a better job of executing,” Haralson said. “Honestly, I don’t like how we turned over the ball way too much. We have to take care of basketball and we have to play better defense. When we communicate something, we have to be better at going out and executing. It’s really just that plain and simple.”

San Marcos roared back once more, opening the fourth on an 8-1 run to tie the game at 49-49.

In the final minutes of the game, Judson led 5855 before back-to-back buckets from Perkins and senior Azariah Fennell gave San Marcos the lead at 59-58.

But Judson closed out the game making four free throw attempts in the final minute while San Marcos missed two free throw attempts, giving the Rockets a 62-59 win.

Despite the loss, it was another career night for Perkins. After scoring a career high 27 points against East Central on Friday, Perkins topped her personal best with a game high 33 points.

“She felt it had to be done,” Haralson said. “She went out there and just attacked. She hit some tough shots, had some tough finishes there and made most of her free throws. She was doing it on both ends tonight.”

Good was second in scoring with 15 points.

The Lady Rattlers will look to regroup Friday as San Marcos makes the trip to Cibolo to battle the Steele Knights. Steele is the district leader with a perfect 5-0 district record coming off a 48-47 win over the Judson Rockets last Saturday.

The Knights boast one of the best offenses statistically in the district, averaging 54.6 points in district play. The Lady Rattlers enter Friday’s game averaging 60 points in district play on offense while defensively holding district opponents to an average of 42.6 points per game.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Cibolo Steele High School.