San Marcos comes up short in close loss to Lady Rangers

San Marcos broke the press.

That was the team’s biggest issue when it first faced Smithson Valley in Spring Branch on Dec. 11. The Lady Rattlers kept trying to dribble through the full-court pressure instead of passing out of it. The Lady Rangers took advantage everytime, racking up fistfuls of steals and transition baskets.

San Marcos learned from it, though, and adapted in its rematch on Tuesday inside the Snake Pit. The hosts kept their cool, swung the ball across the court and jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game.

But the visitors adapted, too. The Lady Rangers switched to a half-court zone, finding new ways to frustrate the Lady Rattlers, and came from behind to take the 45-42 win.

“I’m proud of our effort tonight. I thought our effort was good,” head coach Veronda Kendall said. “We work on (press breaks) every practice. I just think that the girls are settling in to trusting each other a little bit more on the court and understanding that passing is better than dribbling.”

After hanging on to a 9-8 lead in the first quarter, San Marcos cracked open some breathing room in the second. Junior center Grace Latham fed senior forward Andrea Flores in the post for a layup, and junior wing Miranda Lamb found freshman guard Vivian Hernandez behind the arc to extend the team’s lead to six at the start of the quarter.

“I like the way they’re progressing (on offense),” Kendall said. “I just hope that we can lock down a few more areas … But I like the way the girls are progressing. It looked better tonight.”

Still, the hosts were never able to pull away. The Lady Rattlers ended the half with a 26-20 lead and pushed it to 30-22 three minutes into the third quarter. The visitors didn’t let it reach double digits.

Smithson Valley went on a 10-2 run to knot the game up at 32-32 early in the fourth quarter. Hernandez hit another triple on the next play, but the Lady Rangers used back-to-back buckets to take their first lead of the game with 5:14 remaining, 36-35.

“I felt like we faltered a little bit in the third quarter and we played a little bit hesitant,” Kendall said. “We didn’t take advantage of going inside and maybe took a few ill-advised shots.”

The lead changed two more times before the visitors called timeout with 2:18 left, up 41-38. After the break, Smithson Valley stalled, grinding nearly a minute off the clock and forcing San Marcos to intentionally foul. The Lady Rattlers came within one point with under a minute left, but could never take back the lead. The Lady Rangers took the victory, 45-42.

Hernandez led the team with 19 points, followed by Latham with nine and sophomore forward Faith Phillips with six.

San Marcos (19-12, 3-5 district) will take on New Braunfels Canyon on the road on Friday at 7 p.m. Kendall hopes her team will bring the same level of effort.

“We’re going right back at it,” Kendall said. “We’re going right back at it defensively. We’re going right back at it offensively. And we’re going to try to put the whole thing together and get a W. That’s our goal.”