Lady Rattlers secure crucial district victory against Buda Hays, 47-43

BUDA — San Marcos had a long talk after their 57-56 loss to Geronimo Navarro last week.

Not only was the conversation introspective for the players, but it was also important for the coaching staff.

.@SMLadyRattlers head coach Jermaine Ervin (@CoachErvin2) on today’s district win on the road against Hays. 🏀

Part 1:@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/CF7ytobHHD

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) December 21, 2021

“When we were having the talk, the girls were interacting and telling us how they felt about some things and (while) it wasn't (necessarily) eye-opening, it was like, ‘Oh, that does make sense,’” head coach Jermaine Ervin said. “This is my first year of coaching and I come from a tree of coaching a certain way. You gotta change things up, you gotta rearrange some things. And that's what I did. 

“I came back and I looked at myself instead of the girls and what they were doing, and saw what I was doing. I changed what I was doing to fit their needs and to fit their strengths. So that talk was the best thing we did all year.”

The adjustments proved effective Tuesday afternoon in Oran Bales Gym, where the Lady Rattlers delivered a key come-from-behind victory against their intra-county district rival Buda Hays, 47-43. The purple and white trailed by as much as nine in the third quarter, but put their foot on the gas to cut the lead to three heading into the final eight minutes behind senior guard Angelina Sotelo’s 14 points and four steals.

.@SMLadyRattlers Angelina Sotelo (@AngelinaSotelo5) and Reagan Harris (@ReaganH70488920) talk today’s district win against Hays. 🏀@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/U0pYCb16aH

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) December 21, 2021

“(The talk) changed us a lot, I feel like it really brought us more together and that kind of fueled this (win) and helped us play more as a team and a unit,” Sotelo said. “I felt like we calmed down more on offense, so it was more in rhythm and flow and we got good open looks (in the second half).”

While Sotelo led the way defensively with four steals, she wasn’t the only Lady Rattler playing with tenacity on defense. San Marcos (12-5, 2-1) totaled eight steals on the night with senior Adelia Pierson and juniors A’Miya Moore and Reagan Harris all pick-pocketing Lady Hawks of their own. 

This was crucial late in the second half, but what was even more important for the Lady Rattlers was scoring off those turnovers. All eight of San Marcos’ points off turnovers came in the second half, specifically after the five-minute mark of the third quarter. Clutch play on defense down the stretch was integral to the purple and white’s victory, and it’s something Ervin sees as a core part of the team’s identity.

“I told them at halftime, ‘We're good, we're on somebody else's home floor. They're going to play their best, so we have to play our best,’ and our defense is our best and us playing defense sets the tone for everything else,” Ervin said. “For our transition, for our secondary break, for Angelina and Dede and (freshman guard) Ezra (Tobias) and (senior guard) Vivian (Hernandez) to really hone in on what they do, especially with Reagan and (junior forward) Saylor (Upshaw) on the back end. Then A’Miya and (senior forward) Chelsea (Williams) holding it down in the middle, we were able to get out and do the things we wanted to do.”

San Marcos’ leading scorers on the night included Sotelo with 14 points, Harris with nine points, and Pierson and senior Upshaw contributing six points each. Pierson also led the team in rebounds and assists, grabbing nine boards and dishing five assists.

After the win against Buda Hays (14-6, 1-2), San Marcos looks toward its holiday tournament starting at noon on Dec. 27 before heading back into district in 2022. The team will welcome defending District 26-6A champion Austin High to the Snake Pit on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. for its next district test.

“(We want to work on) our offensive patience. There's film out there on us, and so with film, they're going to take certain things away. We put in some counters yesterday in practice, and they were able to see some things that they saw today and then they reacted to it,” Ervin said. “(We also want to work on) adjusting to the referees. We played the Navarro game and the other team shot 34 free throws. We shot 19. The other team was far more physical than us, and I'm trying to figure out what we're doing. And so we looked at tape and we looked at what we were doing and we're not going to complain. We're going to correct.”