Photo by Gerald Castillo
Rattlers' second-half surge fuels 68-42 win over Hays
San Marcos got back on track on the road Tuesday night.
After dropping their fourth and fifth games of the year to Lake Travis and Austin Westlake last week, the Rattlers completed their first district sweep of the season over cross-county rival Buda Hays, 68-42.
The purple and white were able to overcome a sluggish first half caused by the Hawks’ 2-3 zone that left San Marcos (23-7, 6-2) with a 26-21 lead at the end of the second quarter. Head coach Dan Miller emphasized aggressiveness during halftime, and it led to numerous turnovers and subsequent fast breaks leading to easy offense for the Rattlers throughout the second half.
.@RattlerMBB head coach Dan Miller discusses his squad’s 68-43 win over Buda Hays tonight. 🏀⬇️
Part 1:@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/LRROetU95I— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) January 26, 2022
“Honestly, our first half (is) on me a little bit, because I just felt like we had a little bit of a hangover from last weekend. Instead of using it as fuel to start and jumpstart our second half of the district, we just were real sluggish. And to Hays’ credit, they played good in their zone,” Miller said. “But we gave up points off easy, simple turnovers early, (we didn’t have) a safety back on defense — just things that we pride ourselves on doing — and we gave them six free points. So it was frustrating, and we weren't talking on defense, but we got the energy up.
“We talked about halftime, took a deep breath and said, ‘be us.’ Let's talk, let's play energized, and that's what we did in the second half and we want to build off that.”
On top of the normal contributions of 19 points from four-star junior forward Malik Presley and nine points on top of multiple steals from three-star junior guard Kaden Gumbs, San Marcos had two young players step up in freshman guard Criston “Cash” Good and sophomore guard Zyair Jolivette. Jolivette tallied eight points on the night spacing the floor for the purple and white, while Good ran the offense for the majority of the game and added five points.
.@RattlerMBB G @CristonCashGood and G Zyair Jolivette (@ZyairJ24) talk their 68-43 win over Buda Hays. 🏀@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/QWb0fKkHY9
— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) January 26, 2022
“Coach (Miller) was talking with us (at halftime) and he was just like, ‘Pick up the energy,’” Jolivette said. “Like, (we need to have) championship standards, and we just listened —”
“We had a slow first half, so for us to be able to pick it up in the second half was good,” Good added.
Jolivette’s contributions from the 3-point line has been something that’s helped the purple and white’s offense since being moved up to varsity. He credits his success beyond the arc to shooting everyday — setting a goal of taking at least 100 shots.
San Marcos also saw their “JYD” or “Junkyard Dog” in junior forward Mateus Perkins have a big night as well, tallying 12 points and 12 rebounds to hold down the paint for the Rattlers.
“Mateus was great tonight, you know, a junkyard dog. I don't know the stats for sure, but I think unofficially (he had) 12 rebounds,” Miller said. “(He had) a lot of offensive boards. (We) just want to keep continuing to work on keeping it high when he gets it, but he has good timing for the ball. He did a lot of things tonight to help gain extra possessions along with Malik and that's important to us.”
The purple and white will look to build off their performance and continue to improve as they head home for a three-game stint facing Austin High, Del Valle and Austin Bowie. San Marcos will tip-off against Austin High at 8 p.m. on Friday inside the Snake Pit.
“We know teams are gonna zone us, you know, we're seeing it. Most of the games (have had) a lot of zone and we just have to be crisper in our zone offense. Flash harder, play inside early. We just shot 3s the whole first half, really,” Miller said. “If we move the ball a little quicker and get it inside, those 3s will come a little bit later in some possessions. Just play inside-out basketball. But then the biggest thing is just talking on defense and being connected, and everyone doing it. Our team gets along really good, (we have) great synergy. And right now we don’t care about the end of the season, we care about a good practice tomorrow and a good focus for Austin coming in on Friday because we want to make sure we win every game that we should win.
“And then just finish that season strong going into playoffs, that’s what’s important to us, those playoffs.”
Highlights from @RattlerMBB’s 68-43 win over Buda Hays. 🏀
Part 1:@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/7ONCKHFOlH— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) January 26, 2022
