San Marcos wins hard-fought game against ranked Navarro

The long road trip continued for San Marcos as the Lady Rattlers traveled to Navarro and came out with a 43-39 win over the Panthers.

Following Tuesday’s win over Navarro, which is ranked No. 13  in Class 4A, head coach Jermaine Ervin said he was proud of his team was proud of his team fighting through all the odds while focusing on the issues on the court rather than off of it

“It was enlightening,” Ervin said. “This was an opportunity to work on the things that we could control. Before we were so young that we tried to get ahead of ourselves but last night we did a great job of only worrying about ourselves.”

One the key moments in the game happened in the fourth quarter where the Rattlers held off the Panther attack while also sinking some big shots toward the end of the game.

“After we went on that big run in the third quarter, I thought we were doing some good things, ” Ervin said. “We got some good stops and running layups. In the fourth quarter when things got tight again, Saylor Upshaw was able to make a running shot in the paint while withstanding a lot of contact. They came back and made some free throws and Amiya Moore gets fouled on the 3-point shot and makes two out of the three free throws. We were then able to hit two consecutive shots to close out the game. We went on the run in the third quarter but we were able to close out the game in the fourth quarter.

“One of the biggest improvements that I personally saw was being able to handle adversity,” Ervin added. “Sometimes when we played in games before, we struggled with things that we couldn’t control. Whether it was some of the calls the referees would make or some things the officials would let the other team get away with. Last night we had a resolve to worry about the things we needed to worry about and what we could control.”

Another issue San Marcos had to deal with was the injury of Ezra Tobias who had to leave the game.

This led to the opportunity of the other players on the team to fill in for her that normally don’t see action on the court.

“A lot of girls were able to play that they generally don’t get a chance to play,” Ervin said. “They had to play significant roles and minutes. One of our players got injured in the game, so we needed to have the other players step in and hold down the fort while she was out of the game. So being able to play with resolve against adversity was a major step forward.”

Ervin believes Tuesday’s game was a big stepping stone for his young team.

“The mental aspect of the game is so important,” Ervin said. “To be able to think about the game over the elements of what is happening was special.”

San Marcos heads to the Northeast ISD tournament over the weekend.