Snakebit

Lady Rattlers knock off Smithson Valley in home-opener to stay undefeated

In the home opener at the Snakepit, the San Marcos Lady Rattlers defeated Smithson Valley Lady Rangers 51-39.

Head Coach Jermaine Ervin was proud of the team as San Marcos moved to 2-0 for the season following the Lady Rattlers 56-45 win over San Antonio Taft last Friday in the season opener.

“I thought the girls played with energy and effort the whole game,” Ervin said. “I told them to worry about us and what we do. We are trying to change some stuff up from last year so I let the girls play. I wanted to let them figure some things out on the court on their own. I only called two timeouts just to reiternate some stuff that we were doing defensively to make sure we were on the same page.”

The Lady Rattlers found themselves in a tight defensive battle with the Lady Rangers in the first quarter as both teams were tied at 6-6.

Despite Smithson Valley hitting the three point play, San Marcos tied it back up at 9-9 as forward Sophmore Azariah Fennel hit the three point shot as both teams entered the second quarter.

The Lady Rangers took a 16-11 lead during the period but a 7-2 run capped off by another three point shot this time by freshman guard Rileigh Good had the game tied back up at 18-18.

Smithson Valley tacked on a late free throw as the Lady Rangers took a 1918 lead at halftime.

After being held to just nine points in both the first and second quarter, the Lady Rattler offense found their way as San Marcos exploded for 18 points in the quarter.

On the flip side, the Lady Rattler defense held the Rangers to just 10 points.

Out of the 10 points, four were field goals while the rest of the scoring came from free throw shooting.

With the Lady Rattlers being known as a stout defensive team, the new added offensive strategy San Marcos has implemented for this season is adding a new element to the Lady Rattlers game.

“Defense is our staple,” Ervin said. “I’m a defensive coach. … Last year we really struggled offensively just because we hadn’t played a lot of basketball. This year we have a system and little cues we are working on in certain moments. Now they understand. We can get a stop and play loose enough that if they are good shots we can live with it. If they rattle in and out like they did in the first half, eventually they are going to fall.”

Entering the fourth quarter, San Marcos held a 36-29 lead.

The Lady Rattler offense never failed to slow down as San Marcos added 15 points in the fourth point to their lead rolling to a 51-39 win as the defense once again held the Rangers to just 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Junior shooting guard Ayleceia Pierson led the way for the Lady Rattler offense with a game high 12 points followed by Fennell with 11 points. Junior point guard Ezra Tobias was third in scoring with nine points.

San Marcos returns to play Friday night as the Lady Rattlers take the short trip down I-35 to take on the New Braunfels Canyon Lady Cougars Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Canyon High School.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc