San Marcos dominates 2nd half, rolls to 67-50 win over New Braunfels

A win against New Braunfels is three years in the making for San Marcos.

Not only are the two river cities just 20 miles apart, but the two schools were district rivals back in 2019. During now-juniors Kaden Gumbs, Malik Presley, Exavion Harris, Jon Vega and Isaiah DeLeon’s freshman year, the Unicorns swept the Rattlers in two games by a combined score of 135-107. Two years older and a few inches taller, San Marcos exorcised their demons in a 67-50 victory inside the Snake Pit Friday night. 

The victory was fueled by a dominant second half in which the Rattler’s went on a 41-22 run to end the game after being down 28-26 at halftime. 

.@RattlerMBB F Malik Presley (@Itz_Malik_2X) and G Kaden Gumbs (@KJahnii) talk tonight’s 67-50 victory over New Braunfels. ⬇️🏀@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/51i16CbsGn

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) December 18, 2021

“It was good, we came out a little slow, we know we could’ve played better but I think we did a good job,” Presley said. “We grew a lot, and we got better at overcoming. You know, we’ve faced adversity, (head coach Dan) Miller got us ready in preseason games and tournaments down in Houston. So we’ve seen it before, we all grew together, Kaden did a good job of leading us (and) bringing the team together and we pulled away in the second half.”

Presley was able to tally 24 points while Gumbs put up 19 to seal the victory — a far cry from losing by 19 and nine as freshmen the last two times New Braunfels (11-5) and the purple and white faced off.

.@RattlerMBB head coach Dan Miller on tonight’s 67-50 win against New Braunfels heading into district play. ⬇️🏀

Part 1:@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/cNE0I3CTee

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) December 18, 2021

“You know, every game is different,” Miller said. “And we've had a few games at that tournament where I thought we played four quarters of complete basketball and, you know, it's not like we weren't playing good basketball in the first half. We just had some mental errors there, but (the Unicorns) were dominating the effort plays, I thought, as far as getting on the floor more than us. We weren't communicating on some screens and got hurt. So at halftime, we just made some adjustments, we talked about doing things a little better. (I’m) really proud of the way they came out and executed and won that second half.

“So basically, you know, I just said just be ourselves. I think we came out with a lot of emotion and to New Braunfels’ credit, they came out and they executed very well. And I thought they executed well throughout the game. And you know, you're gonna have that when you're gonna get down and just can't panic. You gotta do what we need to do and we stayed together … I think we only lost one quarter today, it was the second quarter (that) had us in a two-point deficit at halftime, so we never panicked. We just did things a little better as the game went on.”

Miller also believes playing in rivalry games like these mentally prepares his team for upcoming district matchups, where things always start to get a little more chippy with more on the line. He likes how his squad has handled it so far — keeping trash talk at a minimum.

Miller still stresses that he wants his team to have fun — and it makes sense when Presley posterized a Unicorn on a putback slam that was the highlight of the night. Watching Gumbs hit butter-smooth pull-up jumpers throughout the game is something that the Rattler bench has fun with throughout games as well.

San Marcos (14-4) welcomes rival Buda Hays (8-7) to the Snake Pit next Tuesday at 6 p.m. to kick off district play before their holiday tournament on Dec. 28.

“Hays is gonna be a good team. And, you know, they'll be up for us. I think everyone will be in district play. You know, nobody goes into a game not giving their best, obviously, because every game is so important. But we looked at them on film a little bit, of course, and we’ll really dive into them this weekend and be ready on Tuesday night,” Miller said. “But a lot of it's really more about us always, you know, that's kind of our philosophy and it always has been mine (while) coaching. You know, we're gonna scout teams and this is what they do here, (these are) their best players and be ready, but it's really about us and our championship standards, making sure we do all the things well, protect the ball, run, play fast, play hard defense, communicate, rebound. And we do those things, we're going to be OK. But it's gonna be a great game Tuesday night. I'm sure both teams will be ready.”

Highlights from @RattlerMBB’s 67-50 win over New Braunfels. 🎥🏀@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/TRFSMW893O

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) December 18, 2021