Rattlers fend off East Central comeback for 63-56 win to claim fourth place in district

The Rattlers got gritty against the Hornets Friday night.

San Marcos came out on top against East Central in a hard-fought 63-56 win that moved the Rattlers into fourth place in the District 27-6A standings. The Rattlers jumped out to a 16-point lead at halftime and fended off a comeback attempt from the Hornets in the second half despite having two starters foul out in the final minutes.

“Every game in our district’s a battle, It’s a dogfight. You know, you have six teams that can all beat each other. They’re all really good. So the mentality just has to be each time you take the floor that you’re focused (and) you’re ready for a battle,” head coach Dan Miller said. “That’s what it was tonight. We got off to a good start, but East Central is really good for a reason also. The second half, they picked up their pressure. We didn’t always handle it great and they got themselves back in the game, but we found a way to close it out. That’s what matters. Learn from some of the mistakes, be thankful for the win and get to work and be ready for that next one.”

The Rattlers held an 8-6 lead midway through the first after a back and forth start but really turned things up in the second half of the quarter. San Marcos finished on a 12-6 run, with junior guard Donovan Riddick leading the scoring throughout the period as well as forcing misses on the other end to give San Marcos a 20-12 lead.

The second had a similar start to the first, with both squads knotted up at 4-4 midway through the period. Once again, San Marcos took control late in the quarter — finishing the half on a 12-0 run after blocks from senior center Ory Williams on the interior led to fast breaks where the Rattlers executed.

“We had to have a lot of fight (in the second half). I felt like that pressure was kind of getting to us, but then we really talked it out and we had to understand that we had to just fight and be tough,” Riddick said. “We had to be a tougher team. So we understood that we had to hold it and we had to fight through the fouls. We had to fight through everything, all the adversity — everything. So we did well on that and we were able to just get the ball moving and break the press.”

The Hornets weren’t ready to lay down yet though, as East Central implemented trap double- teams on the corners which forced multiple turnovers from San Marcos. Their ball pressure led to a 9-6 start midway through the third, and it continued throughout the rest of the quarter. The Hornets won the period 20-10, getting their hands in passing lanes on top of their double-teams to cut the Purple and White’s lead to 46-40.

After another defensive start during the first few minutes of the final frame, the Rattlers were able to get their offense going and start the quarter with an 11-6 advantage midway through — extending their lead to 57-46. East Central would give one last push over the next two minutes though, going on a 8-3 run to cut San Marcos’ lead to 60-54 with just over a minute left. The Rattlers were able to put down three free throws and force misses from the Hornets over the final ticks on the clock, securing the victory 63-56.

“I don’t mean to sound cliché, but (our focus moving forward is) just stay in the moment and play one game at a time. This is just a district that’s so tough, and if you start looking at the standings and (saying) this could happen, then it’s not gonna happen for you,” Miller said. “You've just got to stay in the moment with a good practice, and then when it’s game time, with a good game. So we’ll be ready for our next one Tuesday night against a very good Clemens team coming in here, and we have to prepare for them.”

San Marcos returns home to face off with Schertz Clemens inside the Snake Pit on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.

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