Rattlers Knock Out Chaparrals

By Daven Meredith
Sports Reporter

The San Marcos Rattlers defeated The Austin Westlake Chaparrals 54-48 in the area round of the UIL Basketball Tournament to a sold out crowd at Bowie High School.

Rattlers forward Malik Pressley scored a game-high 18 points, nine of which came from the 3-point line. Rattler’s guards Jayven Cofer, and Kaden Gumbs tacked on a combined 28 points for the Rattler’s offense.

The win improves the Rattler’s record to (35-3 overall, 9-1 district 27-6A) and advances the Rattlers to the Regional Quarter Final. The loss drops the Chaparral’s record to (31-5 overall and 14 -2 in district 26-6A) and eliminates the Chaps from the UIL 6A tournament.

Coach Dan Miller said The Rattlers started off “slow” against the Chaparrals falling behind by 10 early in the first quarter. Cofer’s three 3-pointers brought the Rattlers within four of the Chap’s 19-23 lead by the end of the first.

“Westlake came out and played fabulous to start,” Miller said. “A lot of credit to Cofer for getting it going in the first quarter and hitting those big threes, after that I think we settled in and became that great defensive team.”

The Rattlers held the Chaps to 25 total points through the next three quarters. Miller said the Rattlers did things well offensively, but dedicated the team’s win to “defense.”

“At the end of the day, that’s where we hang our hat is our defense,” Miller said. “You win with rebounding and defense.”

Gumbs had two of the Rattler’s four steals. Gumbs said there are still things that the Rattler’s defense needs to clean up and that the team takes it “one day at a time.”

“One day at a time, we keep going,” Gumbs said. “Coach always preaches that if we would have lost this game, no practice tomorrow, no game next week, we got the win, and we gotta keep going, gotta keep grinding.”

Miller said The Rattlers took a “small ball” approach against the Chaps. Inserting Guard Cash Good, who came off the bench adding eight points for the Rattlers.

“Every game is different,” Miller said. “Once seeing the film, we thought we could spread them out a little bit in our smaller lineups, and our guys made plays out of that lineup.”

The Rattlers move on in their playoff run. Gumbs accredits the fans for “believing” in the Rattlers all season long as they continue their historic season and run.

“This season means everything,” Gumbs said. “We do this for the city of San Marcos. They got our backs. As long as our fans believe in us, we gotta believe in ourselves and get it done.”

The San Marcos Rattlers Regional Quarter Final matchup will be against The Reagan Rattlers at Canyon High School Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. Follow KTSW Sports for updates on the upcoming Rattler basketball game and other San Marcos sports news.