Rattlers dominate Sweeny in opening game of Holiday Classic

The Rattlers had their foot on the gas all game Thursday morning.

San Marcos took down Sweeny 91-45 in a game where the Purple and White jumped on the Bulldogs early and never looked back. While Sweeny did threaten the Rattlers’ lead near the end of the first half, San Marcos seized control with a 32-7 third quarter that built a 45-point lead for the Rattlers heading into the fourth.

“Attention to detail is the main point — it’s the little things that can separate you from being good to great,” head coach Dan Miller said. “I thought in that third quarter our attention to detail was there (and) our focus was there. The first half I felt — even though we had a lead — it was a little bit of holiday basketball. You know, when you’re off for a little while you let a few things get sloppy and that that’s not us. That’s not our program. That’s not what we’re about. So I thought we were more focused in that third quarter and we were very successful separating from them in that quarter.”

The Rattlers started the first quarter hot. San Marcos applied ball pressure and got hands in passing lanes leading to turnovers and creating multiple transition opportunities that propelled San Marcos to a 21-6 run to start the game. The Rattlers attacked the paint and took advantage of their size and athleticism at the rim during the run, and ended the period with a 24-11 lead.

San Marcos (15-4) had a similar start to the second. The Rattlers came out with a 10-0 run to start the quarter, once again off the back of physical defense which disrupted Sweeny’s offense. The Rattlers held a 20-point advantage for most of the quarter, and despite a pair of threes from the Bulldogs late in the period, San Marcos went to halftime with a 46-26 advantage.

“The ball movement was very good. I think we’re continuing to share the ball more and more as the season goes on, move the ball. And the guys were popping that thing around. I got to look at the stats, but a lot of assisted baskets today,” Miller said. “That makes me very happy. I think that just about everybody out there had one extra pass today that led to a great shot. We just gotta keep improving. We’ll have some tough games as this tournament progresses.”

Then the Rattlers really went pedal to the metal. The Purple and White got multiple blocks on defense from senior center Ory Williams, with the rest of the starting lineup playing unselfish on the break which led to a plethora of buckets at the rim. San Marcos turned up their ball pressure once again and kept their switches and rotations on point to hold Sweeny (9-8) to seven points in the quarter while scoring 32 on the offensive end, giving the Rattlers a 78-33 lead heading to the fourth.

“In the locker room (at halftime) Coach Miller challenged us to try to get 75 points before the start of the fourth quarter,” junior guard Josiah Hollmon said. “I’m not sure if we got it, but we definitely went for it—” “We did get (to 75), and that’s because we were playing the right way and doing everything we were supposed to do as a team and sharing the ball. So it’s easy for us to play (successfully) when we’re playing together as a team,” junior point guard Cash Good added.

The Purple and White took care of business in the fourth, with the San Marcos bench getting eight minutes of action that was valuable for building depth. The Rattlers won the fourth quarter 13-12, walking away with a 91-45 victory to move to 1-0 in the San Marcos Holiday Classic.

'The depth on our team is something that we just want to keep getting better. We have a solid starting five, and then we have guys off the bench who can do different things and they just gotta keep working on it,” Miller said. “As games go on, some games it’s gonna be a different player, it just depends on the game (and) the style of play. But be ready when your opportunity is called. And what I thought is (that) both the group that started and the group that came off the bench were both cheering for each other (and) providing energy on the bench, especially the second half, and that’s what team is all about.”

San Marcos will play four more games over the next two days, facing off with Magnolia, Cypress Bridgeland, Mineral Wells and Trinity Christian Academy.

“Our goals are pretty simple these three days. We wanted to work on and make sure that we play harder than our opponent every game, that’s something that we’re going to talk about, so all five games, let’s play harder than our opponent,” Miller said. “And then the second thing is just be more together with sharing and being connected with the basketball moving, (and) talking on defense. So we’ll just keep progressing on that and hopefully by Saturday, we’re a better team than we were today on Thursday.”

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