San Marcos overcame a titanic 34-12 halftime deficit Thursday, surging back for a 46-44 girls basketball win over L.A. Baptist at the Fillmore Tournament.
“I was talking with my assistant coaches, and we said that this is definitely going to be a reference point for the rest of the season,” said coach Kristyn Miller.
Sophomore Emily Dietz hit her third and final 3-pointer to tie things up with 1:20 remaining, but L.A. Baptist got a golden opportunity by getting to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1 opportunity with eight ticks left. The Knights missed the first free throw, and San Marcos immediately called a timeout. Kimmy Sanchez was able to drive up the gut off of the inbounds pass and drop in the winning lay-up with two seconds left.
Vanessa Curiel led the Royals with 15 points in the game. Knights star Monet McNally, a 5-10 guard, scored a game-high 17 but was rendered scoreless in the third quarter and scored just four points in the final period. Curiel and Lindsay Hyslop took turns guarding McNally in the game.
“At halftime we went in and talked about what kind of effort we were putting out and what we represent. They went out and took care of business after that,” said Miller.
Freshman Hannah Ball had four points in her second high school game. The Royals (2-0), play La Reina tomorrow at 6 p.m.
SAN MARCOS 46, L.A. BAPTIST 44
SAN MARCOS — Curiel 15, Hyslop 2, Ball 4, Dietz 9, Porter-Ray 3, Sanchez 7, Unzueta 8. Totals 16 11-20 46.
L.A. BAPTIST — McNally 17, Ortiz 8, Begakis 12, Dyson 1, Perez 6. Totals 18 3-5 44.
San Marcos…10 2 13 21 — 46
L.A. Baptist…14 20 4 6 — 44
3-point goals — SM 3 (Dietz 3). LAB 5 (McNally 1, Ortiz 2, Perez 2). Total fouls — SM 11, LAB 17. Fouled out — LAB: Clarkson.
SM record 2-0.
