The Rattlers Get the Win in a Close Game in the Snakepit

By Jerry Castro 

KTSW Sports Reporter 

SAN MARCOS, Texas- The San Marcos Rattlers defeat the Victoria West Warriors in a narrow 49-45 victory in the Snakepit. 

The Rattlers were trying to make a statement as district play is two games away. The Rattlers won the tip, but that didn’t matter, with the Warriors going on an early 7-0 run to force a timeout from head coach Dan Miller. Miller said defense is something that they were going to preface this game in the Snakepit and they did with the Rattlers answering back with an 8-0 run of their own. Both teams were going back and forth with the first quarter ending 11-8, Warriors on top.  

The second quarter was on its way, and the Warriors found a rhythm by moving the ball around and attacking the paint. But once again, the Rattlers found a way to stop the Warriors and started clicking on all cylinders. Then with the clock winding down to go into the half, Tim Cooper knocks down a big three pointer to beat the buzzer and to tie the game 19-19 to end the first half. 

The crowd erupted, and the Rattler fans were excited to see some second half action between these two hungry teams trying to get back to the win column. 

The third quarter was a story of multiple lead changes, and neither squad was going to let their opponent run away with the lead. The Rattlers physicality on defense led them to get good transition buckets and for them to end the quarter with a 31-30 lead to head to the fourth.  

Rattler fans were getting loud in the Snakepit and the Rattlers gave the fans a good one in the fourth. Both teams were going back and forth, including Tytan Crayton collecting the rebound off his own miss to put it back in for a huge second chance point to give the Rattlers a 38-36 lead. This game was going down to the wire with the game being tied 44-44 with 90 seconds left in the ball game. Then with a little over a minute to go, Elijah Valenzuela knocked down a big three pointer to give the Rattlers a 47-45 lead.  

The Rattlers slithered away with a 49-45 win over the Warriors to improve to 8-11 on the season. Their next game will be against the Georgetown Eagles on December 29th at 12:20 p.m.