Lady Rattlers lose against Navarro in nail-biter, 57-56

The Lady Rattlers played their most physical game of the year inside the Snake Pit Friday night.

San Marcos fell 57-56 to 2021 UIL 4A state quarterfinalist Geronimo Navarro (21-3) in a game that included a plethora of bodies on the floor, fouls, steals and blocks. 

.@SMLadyRattlers head coach Jermaine Ervin (@CoachErvin2) on tonight’s game against Geronimo Navarro. ⬇️🏀

Part 1:@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/cqsVHmAYSl

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) December 18, 2021

“I knew, (and) our girls knew that they were going to be a good team. They're regionally ranked, they’re ranked in 4A, their record is solid, they've won some tough games, they’ve blown some people out. So we knew what they were,” head coach Jermaine Ervin said following the loss. “They're fundamentally sound and they key up, they key in on what their coach tells them to do. So we know exactly what we were in for. We just weren't aware of the physicality element that we were going to have to deal with. But I thought we made a pretty good adjustment at times.”

The purple and white jumped out to a 15-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Navarro got back in the game in the second, trimming San Marcos’ lead down to 31-24 at halftime. The Pantherettes carried their momentum into the second half and took a 43-42 lead by the end of the third quarter off the back of some laboring offensive rebounds down low.

San Marcos responded and retook the lead in the fourth, even holding a five-point margin over the Pantherettes with just under 3 minutes to play. That’s when the Lady Rattlers got into foul trouble. Starters and seniors Adelia Pierson and Angelina Sotelo both fouled out of the game late, leaving the Rattlers shorthanded after Navarro got into the double bonus, which ultimately led to the Pantherettes being victorious 57-56.

Despite the loss, Ervin was glad his team had this experience before getting into the thick of district play.

“I think it's important. You know, I told the girls today, I was like, ‘It's good to have a hard opponent going into district,’,” Ervin said. “You know, we've already played a couple of district games. But we had two non-district opponents, and then we'll play a district opponent again next Tuesday. We needed a test, we didn't need nothing where we would be able to roll over somebody, we needed something where we were going to actually have to work hard, stay together, see what we needed to work on, see what was working well, what we're struggling with. And Navarro is all you want.

“And you know, what's good about it is, they're right down the highway from us. So that's a game that we want to continue to play. That's a game that we want to continue to want to win. And I think it's going to be a game that'll serve us better for the Hays, Bowie, Del Valle, and Austin High when we go to their places and play them. So I think this was a good test for us.”

San Marcos (11-5, 1-1 District 26-6A) heads 15 minutes up I-35 to face longtime rival Buda Hays (13-5, 1-1) in their last district game of 2021 next Tuesday at 12:30 p.m., looking to go into 2022 with a winning record in district.

“(The Lady Hawks have) a big squad over there. They got some girls that are young, that (Hays head coach Danny) Preuss has went ahead and brought up through the program that are ready to play and ready to compete,” Ervin said. “They're long, they're athletic. Our girls are very aware of who they are and they played against them and in some cases, they played with some of these girls in AAU in the summer. We played against them in fall league, we've played against them in summer league, so they know who they are and Hays is going to come out and play as hard as they can and the San Marcos Lady Rattlers are going to come out and play as hard as we can.

“So we're excited for the game, we're excited for the task at hand. And like I said, we're .500 right now, we're 1-1 in the district. We want to go and we want to be on that positive win total, 2-1, and then we can play our holiday tournament at Hays. And we got to a tough Antonian Prep team over there in our pool. So we're going to be ready to iron out a few other things and then when we come back from the new year we're hitting district running.”

Highlights from @SMLadyRattlers matchup against Geronimo Navarro tonight. 🎥🏀@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/mDL3cRygIp

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) December 18, 2021