Second Half Cold Spell Dooms San Marcos Boys’ Basketball in 66-52 Loss to Chaminade

A third quarter blitz by the Chaminade boys’ basketball team broke open a tight game and put San Marcos in a significant hole. 

The Royals battled, but couldn’t keep pace in the second half of a 66-52 non-league loss to the visiting Eagles on Friday night at the Thunderhut.

“They got really hot for one, and we knew they would,” said San Marcos coach Jamez Kinzler. “{Bryce Goldman} is a good player and I thought we did a really good job on him, for the most part, in the first half. Then he got a little bit loose.”

Goldman, a 6’5” senior, led all scorers with 27 points, including four three-pointers.

Strong defense allowed San Marcos to take control early in the game. A driving layup by sophomore guard Brody Green increased the Royals’ lead to 11-3 midway through the first quarter.

However, Chaminade closed the opening period on a 9-3 run, as Goldman scored inside to cut the deficit to 14-12 going into the second quarter.

Green opened the second quarter with a three-pointer that put San Marcos ahead 17-12, but the two teams went back and forth from there. The second quarter featured four lead changes and a three-pointer by Chris Cordero gave the Eagles a 27-25 lead with 35 seconds remaining in the first half.

All of the positives that San Marcos displayed in the first half evaporated in the second half, as Chaminade opened the third quarter on a 22-2 run. A floater by Jonas Thurman put the Eagles ahead 49-27 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

“A lot of it was fed off of make or miss. We had some live ball turnovers and some missed shots that often go down for us,” said Kinzler of Chaminade’s third quarter run. “That got them out in transition, it seemed like from what I can remember, and then it kind of just snowballed.”

Koji Hefner and Joe Pasternack closed the third quarter with back-to-back three-pointers that cut the San Marcos deficit to 49-33, but the damage was done as Chaminage outscored San Marcos 23-8 overall in the third quarter.

San Marcos outscored Chaminade 19-14 in the fourth quarter, but never cut the deficit to single digits. Pasternack led San Marcos with a team-high 19 points and displayed impressive shot making with four three-pointers. Hefner chipped in 15 points and Green scored all eight of his points in the first half.

The Royals dropped to 5-3 overall with the loss and will travel to Oxnard for a Channel League contest on Monday. Chaminade improved to 10-1.