UNDER THE LIGHTS

Rattlers take down Eagles inside Frost Bank Center

The Rattlers took care of business inside the Frost Bank Center Monday.

San Marcos took down Austin Metroplex foe Georgetown in a 68-53 battle where the Rattlers pulled away at the end of each half to retain momentum and the victory. Georgetown was able to keep the game close at the beginning of each half, but the Rattlers physicality and defense created opportunities for San Marcos to extend their lead and they took advantage.

“It was a really good event and just happy for our guys,” head coach Dan Miller said. “You only get so many experiences like this to play in an NBA arena. Our guys were excited to do it and they embraced it well.”

The Rattlers opened the game in a defensive clash where both teams created turnovers and put pressure on each team’s offense and their sets. Georgetown gained a 10-8 lead midway through the first quarter, but San Marcos rallied back in the final three minutes, including a buzzer- beating three by junior guard Donavan Riddick, that gave the Rattlers a 1513 lead heading into the second.

San Marcos (5-3) continued their momentum to start the second quarter and really started to get into the flow of the game, building a 9-point advantage midway through the second quarter. The Rattlers relentless defensive pressure and execution in transition for the rest of the period pushed their lead to 35-20 going into halftime.

“[It was] a defensive game [at] first and we kind of thought it might be that way, just playing in the arena a little bit [with the]shooting,” Miller said. “We missed some free throws–and I’m not blaming it on playing in that arena–but we said we had to get stops [pregame]. We got enough [in] the first half to have a little bit of a lead.”

The Eagles weren’t ready to lay down after halftime though, they came out of the break and took a page from the Rattlers’ book–forcing turnovers and getting easy buckets in transition. That got Georgetown (2-2) back into the game as they cut San Marcos’ lead to 39-33 halfway through the third quarter. San Marcos called timeout after the Eagles’ run and flipped the script on Georgetown, taking back the physicality of the game and executing on their defensive rotations as well as having hands in passing lanes. The Rattlers offense also stepped up, taking and making good shots on offense that gave San Marcos a 53-37 lead at the end of the period.

The Rattlers continued to impose their physicality and disrupt Georgetown’s flow on both sides of the ball extending their lead to 19 midway through the fourth. The Eagles gave their best shot at a comeback forcing some turnovers late, but the Rattlers fended it off to close the game 68-53.

“To Georgetown’s credit, like all teams, they fought back and got back in it a little bit, but I was happy the way we closed it out tonight,” Miller said. “We still got to be better with the basketball in the fourth quarter. We had some turnovers that we just gotta clean up–when we clean up our turnovers I think we’re gonna be a very good offensive basketball team to go with our defense.”

San Marcos returns to the court for more non-district action on Nov. 28 to face off with Central Catholic at Central Catholic High School in San Antonio at 7:30 p.m.

“We just stress with this group–we just want to be growing every day. From our first practice in October to our first game. We feel like we are, we’re trending in the right direction and we have a very tough district. District play [is] not for a long time from now, but our district is very good this year,” Miller said. “There’s not one bad team. So we have to be growing and getting better each and every day so we can compete for the district and that’s what we’re doing. So just get a little bit better every day, right now I want the guys to enjoy their families for Thanksgiving. A lot to be thankful for. We’ll get back and practice on Saturday and come back to this city and play a very good Central Catholic team.”

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