Cavaliers can’t miss from deep in 65-57 win over Rattlers

Lake Travis left a puddle inside the Snake Pit when they made it rain from downtown, splashing 12-16 from deep in a 65-57 win over San Marcos on Tuesday. 

The Cavaliers hit shots whether a hand was in their faces or falling down from the right corner. The marksmanship of the visitors gave them a 21-point advantage in the 3-point department, outshooting San Marcos (8-10, 6-7 disrict) 12-5 from deep. To put it in perspective, Lake Travis (14-6, 9-4) hit seven 3s in the first half while only making six two-point field goals, giving them the 35-24 advantage at half.

“I mean they hit a lot of shots. They shot the ball pretty well. We had opportunities, but just the little things, man — blocking out. You know, it’s just, things that we have to figure out and get better at and eventually they’ll get it,” head coach Steven Pinchback said. “I remind myself that they’re young, but eventually they’re gonna figure it out. Hats off to coach (Cavaliers head coach) Clint (Baty), he does a good job over there.”

A recent spark for the Rattlers continues to be the play of junior guard Nathan Henry, who scored his 10th point of the night from deep to start the second half. The rest of the team got into the flow of the game. Sophomores Malik Presley and Kaden Gumbs both stepped their way to buckets — Malik a euro step to the rim, Gumbs a side step pull-up. But again Lake Travis halted the offense with another contested three, this time coming from senior Aaron Jacob, who scored a game-high 27 on the night. 

San Marcos got the deficit as low as nine when Presley got the first two buckets going to the rim. Then Presley dished it out to junior guard Caleb Williams who hit a must-have 3 to make it 57-49 with 5:17 in the fourth. Pinchback immediately called timeout. The Cavaliers went to their go-to guy in Jacobs again with a gritty inside move that pushed the lead back up to 10. After that Lake Travis only relinquished double-digits in the last few seconds of the win.

To shed some positivity on the night, San Marcos senior guard Cedric Swan hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left that lightened the mood in the gym. In his final home game, he scored the final bucket in spite of it coming in a 65-57 losing effort to the Cavaliers.

“I mean it was a great feeling. I mean, last game home game, it’s a big moment for me at least,” Swan said. “I don’t get to go in all the time but it just felt awesome to hit that shot. I just felt good, seeing all the supporters is awesome.”

Presley dominated offensively with 20 points and nine rebounds. Gumbs and Henry chipped in double-figures scoring 12 and 10, respectively, in the loss. Pinchback still remains optimistic about his team not only in the next few practices but in the future being a powerhouse in the district.

“We’re gonna keep grinding. We’re headed in the right direction, you know it’s tough when you’re young, you got to go through the growing pains, but we’re getting better each year, and we’re going to continue to get better so all we can do is keep playing and working on our craft. We’re going to just keep chopping wood, that’s all we can do you know we’re not gonna get deterred we’re not gonna stop and eventually we’re gonna be something to deal with.”

Although San Marcos fell to Lake Travis, their playoff hopes depend on them taking down the Goliath of the district — Austin Westlake (23-1, 13-0) — on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Rattlers are also praying for Austin Bowie to defeat Del Valle at the same time if they want to force a tie with the Cardinals in the District 26-6A standings.