Strong fourth quarter rally pushes Lady Rattlers over Austin High

Using a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter, San Marcos toppled area powerhouse, the Austin High Maroons, 45-34, as the Lady Rattlers improved to 4-0 on the year.

In a game that saw San Marcos struggle with their offense in the first half, Head Coach Jermaine Ervin was pleased with the Lady Rattlers ability to not give up or back down.

“I’m proud of the resilience [Lady Rattlers] have,” Ervin said. “We are such a young team so we are up and down. As I was saying, we have to play with effort and emotion but we can’t be emotional. Last year we were really emotional, be it good or bad. When we play with energy, effort and emotion, it drives us. It gives us energy and the purpose that we need.”

Both San Marcos and Austin High found themselves all tied at 28-28 when the two teams headed into the final quarter of play.

Following a three pointer by the Maroons, the Lady Rattlers answered back with a quick two point shot by forward Meylania Perkins to make it a 31-30 game.

After forcing a turnover on the next possession, guard Ayleceia Pearson hit the three point play to retake the lead at 33-31.

Another turnover forced by the Lady Rattler defense led to another three point play as Perkins converted the three points to extend the lead at 36-31.

Back to back layups in the paint by point guard Ezra Tobias put the nail in the figurative coffin for the Maroons as the Lady Rattlers took control of the game at 40-31.

Despite Austin High cutting the lead down to six points, it wasn’t enough as the Lady Rattlers pulled away for the 45-34 win.

One of the keys to the game despite the first half offensive struggles, which saw San Marcos score only 3 points in the second quarter, was the Lady Rattler defense.

A staple of the San Marcos Girl’s Basketball program, the Lady Rattlers have held opposing offenses to under 50 points in all four wins and held opposing offenses to under 40 points in the past three games.

Because of the Lady Rattlers defensive mindset and the want to play tough defense, it has allowed San Marcos to focus more on parts of their game that are not as strong.

“The years I’ve been here, we have been a defensive driven team,” Ervin said. “I’m a defensive dude. I was a defensive player and a defensive minded head coach. In the preseason and in the fall, we didn’t practice defense. All we did was practice offense so we can be better offensively because of our struggles last year. So our growth defensively isn’t touching where it needs to be but [Lady Rattlers] want to play defense so that ‘Want To’ was the reason we could slide off of this because they want to play defense.”

Ervin also credited assistant coach Cooper Haralson for helping with the Lady Rattlers on defense.

“Coach Haralson has done a great job with working on our defensive schemes, philosophy and system, ” Ervin said. “It is starting to come together piece by piece as we get more practice time.”

San Marcos will be out of town this weekend as the Lady Rattlers will participate in the Allen Hoop-fest Tournament this Thursday through Saturday.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc