San Marcos drops district home opener to Rockets

San Marcos lives and dies by the three.

When the shots are falling, the Rattlers can compete with anyone. If the team can’t find it’s range, though, it tends to lead to problems in other areas of the game.

The latter was the case on Friday night when San Marcos fell to Converse Judson inside the Snake Pit, 91-55.

“(This district) hasn’t shown us anything we didn’t expect,” head coach Thomas Acker said. “We knew it was going to be tough.”

The Rattlers showed flashes of the best version of themselves in the first quarter: a gritty defensive team with a knack for penetrating on offense and kicking the ball back out to an open man for a triple.

Junior wing Josh Deleon found senior guard Pablo Rios in the right corner for the opening basket of the game. Senior forward Mason Green converted a free throw on an and-1 layup a few plays later to give the hosts a 6-0 lead halfway through the first.

The Rockets made just one of their first seven shots. But when Rios was taken out of the game after picking up his second foul, Judson took advantage. The visitors caught up with the Rattlers and drained a 3-pointer from the right wing in the last minute of the quarter to take a 15-13 lead. San Marcos never got it back.

Rios checked back into the game in the second quarter and hit another right corner trey from Green on a give-and-go inbounds play, still trailing 17-16. But Judson went on a 10-0 run from there, taking just under a minute. Rios ended the run with a pair of layups, but San Marcos only made two other shots the rest of the half and ended the quarter down 39-28.

The Rattlers continued to struggle on offense. Judson began crashing the boards on both ends, getting multiple second chances and not giving San Marcos any of its own. Senior forward Taylor Dickerson and junior guard Joey Hernandez each scored nine points in the second half to keep the Rattlers competitive, but the Rockets took home the victory, 91-55. 

“The first thing on the scouting report for (Judson) was that they liked to push the ball in transition,” Acker said. “When we take quick shots, we limit our opportunities to get offensive rebounds. And that allowed them to kind of have their way in transition.”

With the victory, Judson improved to 10-9 on the season and 1-1 in district. San Marcos fell to 4-13 and 0-2.

The Rattlers will head to the Buda Hays tournament next week, with pool play beginning on Thursday. It’ll be their last non-district slate of the season. Acker said he knows his team can perform better on both ends of the ball and believes they’ll continue to grow against the tough competition they face.

“I told the guys after the game, it’s a privilege to play in this division,” Acker said. “It’s a privilege to play some of the best teams in the state.”