Coming off a stunning loss in its previous matchup against Dos Pueblos, the San Marcos High boys’ basketball team wrestled away control of the game from the Chargers in the second half and captured a 61-51 victory on Wednesday night at the Thunderhut.
The peaks and valleys of the San Marcos performance made for a memorable roller coaster, as a determined Dos Pueblos team refused to give in despite mounting injuries and a 23-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.
“I think it’s kind of indicative of our team. We are really good sometimes and not so good other times, and we can beat really good teams and we can lose to average teams,” said San Marcos coach Matt Jordan. “I think that for this team to do what we want to do in the playoffs and finish out the year the way we want to, we’re going to have to put it together for four quarters.”
The first half was tight throughout, as both teams were locked in defensively. A driving layup by Segio Landeros gave the Royals a 23-21 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Dos Pueblos guard Evan Pinsker followed with a three-pointer that put the Chargers ahead 24-23 with 10 seconds remaining in the first half. Koji Hefner closed out a frantic final minute of the second quarter with a put-back at the buzzer that gave the Royals a 25-24 halftime lead.
The game shifted immediately in the third quarter as San Marcos came out on fire, led by Brody Green, whose relentless attacks in transition led to easy baskets.
Aidan Conlan scored 10 of his 12 points in the third quarter, and Hefner scored nine of his 16 points in the period as San Marcos outscored Dos Pueblos 29-7 to take a 54-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We probably played the best quarter of the year in the third quarter,” Jordan said. “It has been up and down, and I think this is our seventh straight win, and our last loss was against DP.”
Despite the seemingly insurmountable deficit, Dos Pueblos showed incredible fight in the fourth quarter, and it began defensively.
The Chargers held San Marcos scoreless for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter and ripped off a 14-0 run that was capped off by a slick pass from Stanley Chen to Coulter Jay that cut the Dos Pueblos deficit to 54-45.
“We’ve been in this position before. You’ve seen us this year; we took it personally,” said Dos Pueblos coach Joe Zamora of his team. “If a guy scores on you, next time he doesn’t. If a guy gets a rebound on you, next time he doesn’t.”
Three technical fouls on San Marcos boosted the Dos Pueblos run.
A driving layup by Hefner helped San Marcos avoid a total collapse as the Royals took a 59-49 lead with 1:35 remaining.
With the victory, San Marcos improved to 19-6 overall and 10-2 in Channel League play. Dos Pueblos dropped to 12–14 overall and 3-9 in Channel League play.
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