by MARK CAUL
If the Lehman Lobos never see San Marcos junior guard Collin Hart again it will be much too soon.
Hart scorched the nets for 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, as San Marcos coasted to a 58-45 win over Lehman to sweep the season series and clinch a playoff berth.
Thankfully for the Lobos, Hart and the Rattlers (17-12, 7-3 District 17-4A) will be making the ascent to Class 5A next season.
“After Colin hit his first couple of shots, I knew he was in a good rhythm,” San Marcos head coach Rob Shivers said. “We wanted to make sure we got off to a good start and finish the game strong and I think he did that tonight.”
The same two teams engaged in an overtime thriller back in mid-January with San Marcos blowing a 17-point lead in regulation at home and withstanding a last second miss by Lehman’s Jonathan Garrion from at close range as time expired. The Rattlers eventually won the game going away in the extra session.
Many of the observers in attendance felt Garrion was fouled on the shot and should have been given a chance to win the game at the free throw line after time expired.
This time, the Rattlers left nothing to chance, surging to an 18-5 lead after the first quarter with forward Chris Threadgill connecting on two long range 3-point bombs and then dishing an assist to Hunter Burtschell for an easy basket to spark an early 10-2 Rattler run that put the Lobos in a deep hole that they couldn’t climb out of this time around.
“The bottom line is they were better than us tonight,” Lehman head coach Thomas Acker said. “They got off to such a great start and kept the pressure on. They didn’t want to give us a chance to get back into the game like we did at their place.”
Once the second quarter began, Hart put on quite an impressive shooting display as he blistered the nets by connecting on 5-of-7 from three point range, scoring all 15 points for the Rattlers in the second quarter as they took a commanding 33-19 lead into halftime.
Hart finished with 17 points in the first half alone.
“He had an opportunity to knock down some wide open shots and he did,” Acker said. “He is a great shooter, but our defensive execution wasn’t where it needed to be.”
The Lobos opened the third quarter with a quick 6-0 run as Larry Benson drained a deep 3-pointer from the right baseline and Garrion added a traditional three-point play to help Lehman close to within 33-25.
“We executed a lot better in the second half and controlled their shooters for the most part.” said Acker. “JG (Garrion) and Larry both gave us some good minutes which helped us make a little run.”
Lehman’s only other serious threat came late in the fourth quarter as DeAndre Carson’s driving lay-up brought the Lobos to within 52-44 with 1:22 left.
Garrion’s 16 points paced the Lobos with Carson adding 12 and Benson posting a season-high 10 points.
With his squad being one of the three teams still vying for the fourth and final playoff spot, Acker expects the last two games (at Elgin and home at Hays) to be a dogfight.
“We are in a position where we can control our own destiny,” Acker said. “If we win both those games, we’re in. My players know that they will have to play our tails off to make that happen.”
Lehman tips off at Elgin on Friday night at 7 p.m. and closes out the regular season against Hays at home next Tuesday.