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No. 20 San Marcos (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season to San Antonio Edison (2-1) in the opening game of the 2019 Champions Classic inside the Snake Pit on Thursday.
Both teams struggled to get on the board, the first field goal coming with just under four minutes remaining in the quarter. Senior forward Miranda Lamb broke the ice by grabbing a missed shot attempt and putting it back up for two.
Edison employed a 1-2-1-1 press, causing problems for the Lady Rattlers and helping the visitors get uncontested transition opportunities. The Lady Golden Bears and outscored the purple and white 33-11 in the second half as San Marcos fell, 45-27.
“I just thought that (Edison) had a little bit more energy and were a little more aggressive and that we didn’t have the type of composure that you have to have to keep winning,” Kendall said. “You have to have that composure and that toughness to keep winning game after game. And I’m not sure that I saw that.”
Coming off of an ACL injury this past year, sophomore shooting guard Adelia Pierson provided an offensive spark in the second quarter. The guard swung the ball from left to right out of the triple-threat position, beating her man baseline with a nice touch on the ball for a score. Her layup started an 11-0 run for the hosts to grab their biggest lead of the game at 14-8 with three minutes left in the half. The visitors scored on a post move before San Marcos could put on a half-court trap to put pressure on the guards up top. The defense put the team in a familiar position, leading 16-12 going into the half.
Senior forward Grace Latham hit a mid-range jumper to start the half, but from the team wasn’t able to find a consistent scoring option as the offense for the black and gold started to heat up.
Lady Golden Bear sophomore forward Mary Esther Sosa drained two 3s from the left wing to extend the lead to nine with 6:25 left to play. Edison’s pressure continued to tame the Lady Rattlers as they held them to a season-low 5 points in the fourth quarter, snapping the host’s three-game win streak.
“I hope that (the Lady Rattlers) learn how there’s a lot that goes into winning, including every defensive stop and every offensive possession,” Kendall said. “You don’t just walk out on the court and win. You have to do a lot of things the right way for four quarters. I think we found out we have some work to do.
San Marcos was without junior starting point guard Kayla Presley and First Team all-district junior forward Faith Phillips. Presley was out due to academic priorities, while Phillips was given time to rest, joining her team on the bench but never entering the game.
The Lady Rattlers played their first bracket game of the tournament at 2 p.m. Thursday, ending after press time. San Marcos will play at 9 a.m. Friday with a loss or at 12 p.m. with a win. Kendall said she wants to see her team play a complete game for all four quarters and establish consistency.
“We’re not abandoning ship. We’re moving in a good direction,” Kendall said. “We came up against a team I think that was a little bit more aggressive and more composed. You have to stay aggressive on defense, you have to communicate on defense and you have to know what we’re doing on offense, what a good shot looks like. Those are areas that we’ll continue to work at sharpening.”
