San Marcos downs Smithson Valley, 69-46

SPRING BRANCH  — It was a slow start on Tuesday afternoon for the No. 16 San Marcos Rattlers, but their winning ways continued with a hard-fought 69-46 victory over Smithson Valley for their 12th win in a row.

After a one-point victory on Monday at Round Rock, the Rattlers looked to push the tempo on the defensive side Tuesday afternoon with their pressure defense, forcing turnovers, and getting out on the run on the offensive end.

The Rattlers started the first quarter sluggish, trailing the Rangers 7-4 before head coach Dan Miller called a timeout to settle down and regroup.

“We were getting some good looks to start the game, but we weren’t finishing,” Miller said. “We were going casual. When we started going in a lot harder and with more authority, we started finishing at a better clip.”

After the timeout, the defensive intensity picked up with San Marcos forcing multiple Smithson Valley turnovers, which led to easy fast-break points for the Rattlers with senior Malik Presley ending one with a flush, and junior guard Zyair Jolivette hitting a shot from behind the arc. The Rattlers closed out the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 13-7 lead after the first eight minutes.

In the second quarter, the Rattlers seemed to find their rhythm with their defense leading to offense. Senior point guard Jayven Cofer led the way scoring and making plays for his teammates.

“Coach [Miller] definitely wasn’t happy with the way we started, so he got onto us,” Presley said after the slow start to the game. “We really are a player-led team, and it started with Jayven [Cofer] and me saying we needed to pick it up. It all started with him, especially on defense and him guarding the ball. We all just fed off his energy.”

As the Rangers were able to make a couple of runs throughout the first half looking to cut into their deficit, each run was met with a Rattler answer with rhythm offense and defensive intensity. San Marcos outscored Smithson Valley 24-18 in the second quarter to take a 37-25 halftime lead.

After the break, the Rattlers continued to push the tempo on both ends of the floor with defense leading to offense and senior forward Mateus Perkins patrolling the paint, cleaning the glass and contesting shots at the rim.

“Mateus is that guy, he is our junk-yard dog,” Miller said. “He really battles every night. Overall, he was just a warrior again today. He brings his hard hat every night.”

Perkins padded the stat sheet Tuesday finishing with nine points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

“Mateus is amazing. He is a lot more dominant this year than he was last year” Presley said. “It’s just great to be able to dish and throw lobs too. It is great to see that spark come out of him, he’s been playing really hard.”

The Rattlers continued on through the final quarter, outscoring the Rangers 15-13 in the final eight minutes to close out the road victory and head into their Christmas break.

“For sure, we definitely are a little beat and we are glad to have this little break,” Presley said. “We are 18-2, we haven’t had a lot of breaks so far, we’ve played a lot of games. My guys have definitely been fighting hard, so I’m just proud of them.”

Presley led all scorers with 27 points Cofer added 12 points to go along with five assists for the Rattlers.

“One of pillars of play is to protect the ball that is our first one and to value the basketball,” Miller said. “I thought yesterday and today, we were a little too loose with it, we need to tighten it up. “Our defense, guarding with multiple efforts, I think it was there again today. We had a couple breakdowns that we were exposed to, but overall we are really playing some good defense.

“I think if we can value that basketball a little bit more and continue to play fast, we have a n chance to be a really good team,” he said.

San Marcos will be back on the hard court after the Christmas holiday on Wednesday, Dec. 28 for the San Marcos Holiday Classic Tournament against Canutillo at 9:30 a.m.